Marriage is at the center of one of today's fiercest political debates. Activists argue about how to define it, judges and legislators decide who should benefit from it, and scholars consider how the state should protect those who are denied it. Few, however, ask whether the state should have anything to do with marriage in the first place. In Untying the Knot, Tamara Metz addresses this crucial question, making a powerful argument that marriage, like religion, should be separated from the state. Rather than defining or conferring marriage, or relying on it to achieve legitimate public welfare goals, the state should create a narrow legal status that supports all intimate caregiving unions. Marriage itself should be bestowed by those best suited to give it the necessary ethical authority—religious groups and other kinds of communities. Divorcing the state from marriage is dictated by nothing less than basic commitments to freedom and equality.
Tracing confusions about marriage to tensions at the heart of liberalism, Untying the Knot clarifies today's debates about marriage by identifying and explaining assumptions hidden in widely held positions and common practices. It shows that, as long as marriage and the state are linked, marriage will be a threat to liberalism and the state will be a threat to marriage. An important and timely rethinking of the relationship between marriage and the state, Untying the Knot will interest political theorists, legal scholars, policymakers, sociologists, and anyone else who cares about the fate of marriage or liberalism.
Tamara Metz is assistant professor of political science and humanities at Reed College.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments vii CHAPTER 1: Toward a Liberal Theory of Marriage and the State 1 CHAPTER 2: Confusion in the Courts 19 CHAPTER 3: Marriage and the State in Liberal Political Thought 47 CHAPTER 4: Marriage: A Formal, Comprehensive Social Institution 85 CHAPTER 5: The Liberal Case for Disestablishing Marriage and Creating an Intimate Caregiving Union Status 113 CHAPTER 6: Reconsidering the Public/Private Divide 153 Notes 163 Bibliography 185 Index 199
What People are Saying About This
Mary Lyndon Shanley
This provocative and timely book makes an important contribution to our understanding of both liberal political theory and what marriage law should be. The writing is clear, succinct, and a pleasure to read. This book is essential reading for everyone interested in the family, political theory, public policy, or law. — Mary Lyndon Shanley, Vassar College
Shelley Burtt
In clear and jargon-free writing, Tamara Metz makes a persuasive case for the separation of marriage and the state. Readers who pick up this book to inform themselves about the same-sex marriage debate will be led to wonder why the state involves itself in marriage at all. — Shelley Burtt, author of" Virtue Transformed"
From the Publisher
"In clear and jargon-free writing, Tamara Metz makes a persuasive case for the separation of marriage and the state. Readers who pick up this book to inform themselves about the same-sex marriage debate will be led to wonder why the state involves itself in marriage at all."—Shelley Burtt, author of Virtue Transformed"This provocative and timely book makes an important contribution to our understanding of both liberal political theory and what marriage law should be. The writing is clear, succinct, and a pleasure to read. This book is essential reading for everyone interested in the family, political theory, public policy, or law."—Mary Lyndon Shanley, Vassar College
