Domestic Tensions, National Anxieties
Global Perspectives on Marriage, Crisis, and Nation
Edited by Kristin Celello and Hanan Kholoussy
Reviews and Awards
"While the history of marriage has long been a vibrant scholarly field, it has typically housed discrete national narratives, with limited attention to the ways in which anxieties about marriage can cross international boundaries Though the twelve chapters stand comfortably on their own, it is the ground they share, and their collective insight, that marks the greatest contribution of Domestic Tensions, National Anxieties. This is an absorbing collection in its own right, that simultaneously points to the abundant possibilities that a transnational framework can bring to the study of marriage."--William Kuby, Women and Social Movements
"The editors' ability to assemble this cornucopia of fascinating case studies is impressive."--Journal of Interdisciplinary History
"Highly specific issues regarding marriage and divorce frequently reflect broad national concerns, and in Domestic Tensions, National Anxieties: Global perspectives on marriage, crisis, and nation, the editors Kristin Celello and Hanan Kholoussy have collected twelve essays, spanning numerous countries and periods, to show that marriage regulations are often the site of complex power struggles [as this volume] demonstrates, governments consistently employ marriage regulation as a means of consolidating and increasing their power."--Times Literary Supplement
"A wide-ranging, fascinating exploration of how and why the seemingly private relationships between romantic partners have generated such a sense of political crisis in so many different places--and called forth such differing proposed 'solutions."--Stephanie Coontz, author of Marriage, a History: How Love Conquered Marriage
"The global sweep of the essays in this collection makes it an invaluable addition to accounts of marriage, gender, and nation-states. Motivated by the notion of 'crisis' in marriage in different parts of the world, the volume probes the precarity of this institution, so fundamental to human sociality the world over. At the same time the differences in the nature of the crisis explored in each essay is a salutary reminder against positing a set of homogeneous assumptions about marriage. At a time when moral panics about gender are as ubiquitous as are discourses about the rights of women and sexual minorities, this volume is very timely in giving readers a broad historical overview of concerns that have shaped the institution globally. Methodologically varied and rigorous, this volume highlights the value of being attuned to questions of globalization and historical difference."--Rochona Majumdar, author of Marriage and Modernity: Family Values in Colonial Bengal
