Polygamy in the Monogamous World: Multicultural Challenges for Western Law and Policy
This fact-filled book on polygamy and plural unions around the world supports an in-depth consideration of policy options for Western countries.

Polygamy and plural marriage have become front-and-center issues in Europe, Canada, and the United States, notably on two religious fronts: among some splinter groups of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and in Islam. Polygamy in the Monogamous World: Multicultural Challenges for Western Law and Policy takes both groups into account as it provides a careful examination of legal polygamy in non-Western countries and plural unions in North America. Comparing these similar, but legally distinct forms of union, it offers a fresh perspective on how Western countries should respond to these relationships.

Specifically, the book surveys non-Western countries where polygamy is legally practiced, then provides an overview of plural unions in North America. The problems of polygamy and plural unions are examined, including the potential for tne abuse of wives. The responses of Western governments to such relationships are reviewed, and the most effective solutions are identified to ascertain what policies should be adopted going forward.

1111522629
Polygamy in the Monogamous World: Multicultural Challenges for Western Law and Policy
This fact-filled book on polygamy and plural unions around the world supports an in-depth consideration of policy options for Western countries.

Polygamy and plural marriage have become front-and-center issues in Europe, Canada, and the United States, notably on two religious fronts: among some splinter groups of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and in Islam. Polygamy in the Monogamous World: Multicultural Challenges for Western Law and Policy takes both groups into account as it provides a careful examination of legal polygamy in non-Western countries and plural unions in North America. Comparing these similar, but legally distinct forms of union, it offers a fresh perspective on how Western countries should respond to these relationships.

Specifically, the book surveys non-Western countries where polygamy is legally practiced, then provides an overview of plural unions in North America. The problems of polygamy and plural unions are examined, including the potential for tne abuse of wives. The responses of Western governments to such relationships are reviewed, and the most effective solutions are identified to ascertain what policies should be adopted going forward.

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Polygamy in the Monogamous World: Multicultural Challenges for Western Law and Policy

Polygamy in the Monogamous World: Multicultural Challenges for Western Law and Policy

Polygamy in the Monogamous World: Multicultural Challenges for Western Law and Policy

Polygamy in the Monogamous World: Multicultural Challenges for Western Law and Policy

Overview

This fact-filled book on polygamy and plural unions around the world supports an in-depth consideration of policy options for Western countries.

Polygamy and plural marriage have become front-and-center issues in Europe, Canada, and the United States, notably on two religious fronts: among some splinter groups of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and in Islam. Polygamy in the Monogamous World: Multicultural Challenges for Western Law and Policy takes both groups into account as it provides a careful examination of legal polygamy in non-Western countries and plural unions in North America. Comparing these similar, but legally distinct forms of union, it offers a fresh perspective on how Western countries should respond to these relationships.

Specifically, the book surveys non-Western countries where polygamy is legally practiced, then provides an overview of plural unions in North America. The problems of polygamy and plural unions are examined, including the potential for tne abuse of wives. The responses of Western governments to such relationships are reviewed, and the most effective solutions are identified to ascertain what policies should be adopted going forward.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780313379529
Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date: 05/20/2010
Pages: 288
Product dimensions: 6.40(w) x 9.40(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Martha Bailey, PhD, is professor of law at Queen's University in Kingston, Canada.

Amy J. Kaufman is law librarian at Queen's University in Kingston, Canada.

What People are Saying About This

Lori G. Beaman

"Martha Bailey and Amy Kaufman have carefully weighed the potential harms of polygamy and have developed a nuanced and persuasive argument for its decriminalization. Their discussion makes a vital contribution to the debate about polygamy's place in Canadian society."
— Lori G. Beaman, Canada Research Chair in the Contextualization of Religion in a Diverse Canada Professor, University of Ottawa

Angela Campbell

"This book represents an outstanding contribution to current scholarship addressing the complex and controversial topic of polygamy. Bailey and Kaufman, unmistakable experts on this topic, provide a text of global relevance that challenges readers to look beyond presumptions about polygamous life and to appreciate its cultural, historical, social, legal and spiritual significance in diverse geographic contexts. Painstakingly researched and elegantly written, there is no doubt that Polygamy in the Monogamous World will be an authority of crucial relevance as the debate over plural marriage in the West propels forward."

— Angela Campbell, Professor and Director of the Institute of Comparative Law, Faculty of Law, McGill University

Lynn D. Wardle

"The practice of polygamous marriage presents an intriguing challenge to modern legal theories and Polygamy in the Monogamous World identifies and analyzes many of those challenges. The bare application of principles of pluralism, diversity, tolerance, family autonomy and individual choice to legal recognition of polygamy often seems incomplete. The concerns of policy makers about polygamy are not insignificant - recurrent incidents of women's inequality, sexual exploitation, abuse of minors, and flouting of other laws remind us that in the twentieth century polygamous communities in modern countries seemed to be breeding grounds for serious social pathologies. Are those concerns still valid today? The implications of the legalization of same-sex marriage for legalization of polygamy (and vice versa) raise important conceptual linkage issues. Bailey and Kaufman's timely anthology contributes to the discussion and provokes further serious inquiries, such as: Is polygamy in the contemporary world just another effect of the pervasiveness of hyper-sexualized images and pornography or a corrective response to those influences?

Is polygamy an agrarian, rural-living marriage system that is not adaptable to industrial and post-industrial societies, or is it an effective expression of post-modern individualism in family law? Is the invigoration of Islamic polygamy just the reluctant last gasp of a pre-modern social organization system of a major world community before it enters the world of global economic, social and cultural intercourse, or is it the pre-cursor of a new way of coping with the pressures of globalism? Scholarly consideration of such issues is well-deserved."

—

Lynn D. Wardle, Bruce C. Hafen Professor of Law, J. Reuben Clark Law School, Brigham Young University

Angela Campbell

"This book represents an outstanding contribution to current scholarship addressing the complex and controversial topic of polygamy. Bailey and Kaufman, unmistakable experts on this topic, provide a text of global relevance that challenges readers to look beyond presumptions about polygamous life and to appreciate its cultural, historical, social, legal and spiritual significance in diverse geographic contexts. Painstakingly researched and elegantly written, there is no doubt that Polygamy in the Monogamous World will be an authority of crucial relevance as the debate over plural marriage in the West propels forward."

—

Angela Campbell, Professor and Director of the Institute of Comparative Law, Faculty of Law, McGill University

Lynn D. Wardle

"The practice of polygamous marriage presents an intriguing challenge to modern legal theories and Polygamy in the Monogamous World identifies and analyzes many of those challenges. The bare application of principles of pluralism, diversity, tolerance, family autonomy and individual choice to legal recognition of polygamy often seems incomplete. The concerns of policy makers about polygamy are not insignificant - recurrent incidents of women's inequality, sexual exploitation, abuse of minors, and flouting of other laws remind us that in the twentieth century polygamous communities in modern countries seemed to be breeding grounds for serious social pathologies. Are those concerns still valid today? The implications of the legalization of same-sex marriage for legalization of polygamy (and vice versa) raise important conceptual linkage issues. Bailey and Kaufman's timely anthology contributes to the discussion and provokes further serious inquiries, such as: Is polygamy in the contemporary world just another effect of the pervasiveness of hyper-sexualized images and pornography or a corrective response to those influences? Is polygamy an agrarian, rural-living marriage system that is not adaptable to industrial and post-industrial societies, or is it an effective expression of post-modern individualism in family law? Is the invigoration of Islamic polygamy just the reluctant last gasp of a pre-modern social organization system of a major world community before it enters the world of global economic, social and cultural intercourse, or is it the pre-cursor of a new way of coping with the pressures of globalism? Scholarly consideration of such issues is well-deserved."

— Lynn D. Wardle, Bruce C. Hafen Professor of Law, J. Reuben Clark Law School, Brigham Young University

Lori G. Beaman

"Martha Bailey and Amy Kaufman have carefully weighed the potential harms of polygamy and have developed a nuanced and persuasive argument for its decriminalization. Their discussion makes a vital contribution to the debate about polygamy's place in Canadian society."

—

Lori G. Beaman, Canada Research Chair in the Contextualization of Religion in a Diverse Canada

Professor, University of Ottawa

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