Polygamy’s Rights and Wrongs: Perspectives on Harm, Family, and Law - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0774826169 ISBN 13: 9780774826167

Publisher: UBC Press, 2014

Synopsis

Assumptions about the harmful nature of polygamy have left little room for debate, with monogamy coming to represent a hallmark of civil society, and polygamy the immoral alternative. Opponents have argued that polygamy is harmful to women, children, personal freedom, and even national values, and press for prosecution.

Yet in this volume, eleven scholars ask whether this response is justified by examining, among other perspectives, the lived experiences of polygamous families. In essays that fearlessly explore difficult questions of love, choice, and dignity, these historians, legal scholars, political scientists, sociologists, anthropologists, and religious studies scholars, some of whom are personally connected to polygamous families, seek to complicate a conversation that is more often simplified.

Thoughtful and persuasive, Polygamy’s Rights and Wrongs is both a close consideration of polygamy -- its historical place and its presence in contemporary society -- and a challenging reflection on the ways in which we value family and intimacy.

About this title

About the Author

Gillian Calder is an associate professor in the University of Victoria’s Faculty of Law. Lori G. Beaman is the Canada Research Chair in the Contextualization of Religion in a Diverse Canada and a professor in the Department of Classics and Religious Studies at the University of Ottawa.

Contributors: Benjamin L. Berger, Martha Bradley-Evans, Angela Campbell, Margaret Denike, Avigail Eisenberg, Arta Blanche Johnson, Rebecca Johnson, Frances Morphy, Jennifer A. Selby

Edition details

• Publisher: UBC Press
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0774826169
• ISBN 13: 9780774826167
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256
• Editor: Calder Gillian, Beaman Lori G.