Constructing the family : marriage and work in nineteenth-century English law

This book traces the dissolution of the household and the construction of the family in English law and legal thought in the long nineteenth century. "In nineteenth-century England, legal conceptions of work and family changed in fundamental ways. Notably, significant legal moves came into play that changed the legal understanding of the family. Constructing the Family examines the evolution of the legal-discursive framework governing work and family relations. Luke Taylor considers the intersecting intellectual and institutional forces that contributed to the dissolution of the household, the establishment of separate spheres of work and family, and the emergence of modern legal and social ideas concerning work and family. He shows how specific legal-institutional moves contributed to the creation of the family’s categorical status in the social and legal order and a distinct and exceptional body of rules – Family Law – for its governance. Shedding light on the historical processes that contributed to the emergence of English family law, Constructing the Family shows how work and family became separate regulatory domains, and in so doing reveals the contingent nature of the modern legal family."-- Provided by publisher Contents Acknowledgments Introduction: Household Dissolution and the Construction of the Legal Family Chapter One. Ideology and Population Management Chapter Two. The Invention of Family Law in English Scholarly Legal Thought Chapter Three. Law and the Disarticulation of Work from Family Life Chapter Four. Women and Youth, Work and Family Chapter Five. Legislating Marriage Chapter Six. The Public Importance of Marriage in English Common Law Conclusion: Marriage, Family, and Work: Past and Present Bibliography Index