Marriage and Cohabitation

Alison Diduck, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Laws, University College London, UK.

Contents: Introduction, Alison Diduck. Part I Changing Intimacies - the Theory: On the way to a post-familial family: from a community of need to elective affinities, Elisabeth Beck-Gernsheim; Intimacy transformed? A critical look at the 'pure relationship', Lynn Jamieson. Part II Changing Intimacies - Empirical Research: Why marry? - perceptions of the affianced, Mary Hibbs, Chris Barton and Joanne Beswick; Why don't they marry? Cohabitation, commitment and DIY marriage, Simon Duncan, Anne Barlow and Grace James; Cohabitation and commitment: partnership plans of young men and women, Lynn Jamieson, Michael Anderson, David McCrone, Frank Bechofer, Robert Stewart and Yaojun Li; Marriage and the moral bases of personal relationships, John Eekelaar and Mavis Maclean; The significance of marriage: contrasts between white British and ethnic minority groups in England, Mavis Maclean and John Eekelaar; Regulation of intimacy and love semantics in couples living apart together, Bernadette Bawin-Legros and Anne Gauthier; Cultures of intimacy and care beyond 'the family': personal life and social change in the early 21st century, Sasha Roseneil and Shelley Budgeon. Part III Why Legal Regulation At All?: The Marriage Act 1753: a case study in family law-making, Stephen Parker; Debates and issues regarding marriage and cohabitation in the British and American literature, Jane Lewis; Homosexual rights, Brenda Hale. Part IV Law and Marriage: The case against legal recognition of cohabitation, Ruth L. Deech; Marriage and the good of obligation, Scott Fitzgibbon; Just marriage: on the public importance of private unions, Mary Lyndon Shanley; Contract marriage - the way forward or dead end?, David McLellan; The tide in favour of equality: same-sex marriage in Canada and England and Wales, Wade K. Wright; Why marriage?, Martha Albertson Fineman; Marriage is for heterosexuals - may the rest of us be saved from it, Kenneth McK. Norrie; We will get what we ask for: why legalizi