Yet in this volume, eleven scholars ask whether this response is justified by examining, among other perspectives, the lived experiences of polygamous families. In essays that fearlessly explore difficult questions of love, choice, and dignity, these historians, legal scholars, political scientists, sociologists, anthropologists, and religious studies scholars, some of whom are personally connected to polygamous families, seek to complicate a conversation that is more often simplified.
Thoughtful and persuasive, Polygamy’s Rights and Wrongs is both a close consideration of polygamy -- its historical place and its presence in contemporary society -- and a challenging reflection on the ways in which we value family and intimacy.
Gillian Calder is an associate professor in the University of Victoria’s Faculty of Law. Lori G. Beaman is the Canada Research Chair in the Contextualization of Religion in a Diverse Canada and a professor in the Department of Classics and Religious Studies at the University of Ottawa.
Contributors: Benjamin L. Berger, Martha Bradley-Evans, Angela Campbell, Margaret Denike, Avigail Eisenberg, Arta Blanche Johnson, Rebecca Johnson, Frances Morphy, Jennifer A. Selby