Religion & Law

The Future of Marriage

By Michael Perry

[Thanks to Maggie Gallagher for this:]

Can Marriage Survive?
CATO UNBOUND
January 14-21, 2008

Marriage isn't what it used to be. Though divorce has declined from its peak, marriage certainly is no longer considered an unbreakable covenant. For millions of cohabiting couples, marriage seems optional, or distant. With gay and lesbian couples demanding their own nuptials, marriage isn't even just for straight people anymore. Family is a crucial building block of a decent society, but marriage has always been at the center of family formation. If marriage-as-we-know-it is on the rocks, can the family, and society, be far behind?

Stephanie Coontz, author of Marriage, A History: How Love Conquered Marriage kicks off this month with a learned lead essay ["The Future of Marriage"]. Reacting to Coontz, we've lined up the Manhattan Institute's Kay Hymowitz ["The Marriage Gap"], author of Marriage and Caste in America: Separate and Unequal Families in a Post-Marital Age; economists Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers of the University of Pennsylvania ["Marriage and the Market"]; and Norval Glenn ["Against Family Fatalism"], professor of sociology at the University of Texas.

As always, Cato Unbound readers are encouraged to take up our themes, and enter into the conversation on their own websites, blogs, and even in good old-fashioned bound publications. "Trackbacks" are enabled. Cato Unbound will scour the web for the best commentary on our monthly topic, and, with permission, publish it alongside our invited contributors. We also welcome your letters.

See the essays on the web.

Full post as published by Mirror of Justice on January 25, 2008 (boomark / email).