Polygamy, Policy and Postcolonialism in English Marriage Law: A Critical Feminist Analysis

Front Cover
Series information
Polygamy, Policy and Postcolonialism in English Marriage Law: A Critical Feminist Analysis
Copyright information
Dedication
Table of contents
Series Editor’s Preface
List of Cases
List of Legislation
Acknowledgements
1 Introduction: Polygamy, Law and Women’s Lives
	Polygamous marriages in English law and policy
	Key themes and arguments
		Context and disruption: the coloniality of responses to polygamy
		Disrupting religion and culture: orientalist hierarchies of marriage
		Disrupting harm and equality in marriage
		Disrupting marriage recognition
	Notes on methodology: voice and storytelling
	Overview of the book
2 Consciousness and Disruption in Critical Postcolonial Feminism
	Critical postcolonial theory and feminism: introduction and relevance
	Polygamy and history: a more contextualised approach
	Alternative accounts: orientalism and imperialism
	Disruptive (hi)stories and voices
	Concluding thoughts
3 Polygamy in England: Tracing Legal Developments
	Law as indifferent
	Establishing Christian dominance over marriage law
	Standardised marriage and standardised arguments: the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries
	Expanding options and indifference into the present day: civil marriage and non-marriage
	Concluding thoughts
4 History and Conflict of Laws in Overseas Polygamy
	Private international law: conflict of laws or cultures?
	Denigrating polygamous marriages and wives: the empire speaks
	Mutating non-Christian marriage: potential polygamy
	Differentiating polygamy: protecting public resources
	Concluding thoughts
5 Tensions in Religion and Culture
	The importance of religion and culture
	Collapsing religion and culture
	Complicating the dichotomy and orientalising perceptions
	Concluding thoughts
6 Complicating Harm and Gender Equality
	Polygyny in Islam
	Polygamy as harmful and unequal?
	Polygamy and gender equality
	Gender equality and Islam: a case study
	Is agency the answer?
	Concluding thoughts
7 Religion, Recognition and Marriage Law
	Attitudes to legal recognition for polygamous marriages
	Why is recognition so important? Practical and social consequences
	Recognition: triumph or trial?
	The dark side of marriage recognition
	Towards a disruptive politics of recognition
	Concluding thoughts
8 Final Thoughts and Reflections
	Key conclusions
	Lingering questions and future directions
	Negotiating my closeness
References
Index