Polygamy, Policy and Postcolonialism in English Marriage Law - A Critical Feminist Analysis

Slaves, mistresses, concubines - the English courts have used these terms to describe polygamous wives in the past, but are they still seen this way today? Using a critical postcolonial feminist lens, this book provides a contextualized exploration of English legal responses to polygamy. Through the legacies of British imperialism, the book shows how attitudes to polygamy are shaped by indifference and hostility towards its participants. This goes beyond the law, as shown by the stories of women shared throughout the book negotiating their identities and relationships in the UK today. Through its analysis, the book demonstrates how polygamy and polygamous wives are subjected to imperialist and orientalist discourses which dehumanise them for practising a relationship that has existed for millennia.

About the author

Zainab Batul Naqvi is Reader in Critical Feminist Legal Studies at Manchester Metropolitan University.

Summary

Using a critical postcolonial feminist lens, this book provides a contextualised exploration of English legal responses to polygamy.

Product details

• Authors: Zainab Batul Naqvi, Zainab Batul Naqvi, Zainab Batul (De Montfort University) Naqvi
• Publisher: Bristol University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 01.01.2023
• EAN: 9781529209693
• ISBN: 978-1-5292-0969-3
• No. of pages: 238
• Dimensions: 162 mm x 240 mm x 21 mm
• Weight: 510 g
• Series: Law, Society and Policy
• Subject: Social sciences, law, business > Law > General, dictionaries