Against Marriage An Egalitarian Defense of the Marriage-Free State

Clare Chambers offers a lively, controversial, and rigorous critique of marriage. She argues that marriage violates both equality and liberty and should not be recognized by the state. In contrast to recent egalitarian pro-marriage movements, Chambers argues that same-sex marriage is not enough to make marriage equal. She shows how feminist and liberal principles require creation of a marriage-free state: one in which private marriages, whether religious orsecular, would have no legal status. She sets out a new model for the legal regulation of personal relationships: instead of regulating by status, the state should regulate relationships according to thepractices they involve. The marriage-free state might regulate private marriages, including religious marriages, so as to protect equality. But it would take no interest in defining or protecting the meaning of marriage.