Contents: Introduction: Marriage and cohabitation - global debates, challenges, and perspectives / Sharon Thompson and Rebecca Probert
Part I: Why marry? The meaning of modern marriage
1. What is the purpose of marriage in contemporary legal regulation? / Alan Brown
2. Separating marriage from the state / Daniel J. Hill
3. The feminist case against marriage / Rosemary Auchmuty
Part II: The varied forms of entry into marriage
4. Marriage formation in Europe from the late middle ages until the late eighteenth century / Saskia Lettmaier
5. Universal civil marriage: A blueprint for the future or an idea whose time has passed? / Rebecca Probert
6. The fractured landscape of South African marriage and family law: Future directions / Elsje Bonthuys
7. Marriage, the law and pluralism in Ghana / Augustina Akoto
Part III: The changing boundaries of marriage
8. The (non)recognition of same-sex marriage in South Africa, nigeria and Uganda / Zanele Nyoni-Wood
9. Polygamy in english marriage law - critical postcolonial perspectives / Zainab Batul Naqvi
10. Prohibiting polygamy, yet permitting plurality? / Ellen Forsyth, Caroline Mirza and Rebecca Probert
11. Child marriage: The denial of autonomy by conferring the status of marriage on a child / Arthur van Coller
12. Exploring arranged marriage: Breaking biased frames and uncovering a much misunderstood marital institution / Naema Tahir
13. Comparative consanguinity law: A global study of cousin marriage regulations / Patrick S. Nash
Part IV: Formal alternatives to marriage
14. Why registered partnerships? A comparative overview / Jens M. Scherpe
15. Mixed-sex civil partnerships: A blank canvas or painting by numbers? / Andy Hayward
16. Twenty years of pacs: The specificities of the French civil union / Wilfried Rault
17. Un-coupling family law revisited: Non-conjugal adult unions in family law / Frederik Swennen
Part V: Cohabitation and the legal regulation of unformalised relationships
18. Demographic perspectives on cohabitation / Brienna Perelli-Harris and Bernice Kuang
19. Regulation of cohabitation in the nordic countries / Tone Sverdrup
20. Cohabitation law reform in England and Wales: The case for reform and challenges of definition / Kathy Griffiths
21. Is cohabitation an obligation-free zone? / Gillian Douglas
22. Cohabitation contracts and gender equality / Sharon Thompson
Part VI: The consequences of marriage and cohabitation
23. Consummating in court / Alexander Maine
24. Complex relationships: Marriage and relationship status, procreation and criminal law / Cameron Giles
25. Unhappy families and lying wives: Myths and stereotypes about intimate partner violence / Jennifer Koshan
26. Prenuptial agreements in comparative perspective / Sharon Thompson
27. The meaning of marriage and approaches to the division of assets in Sweden, the Netherlands and England and Wales / Anna Heenan
28. Relational vulnerability: A theory of family, unpaid work, and the state / Ellen Gordon-Bouvier.