‘What does marriage look like today?’ will be the crucial question in our upcoming issue on gender and marriage in the 21st century. Embedded in this are ethical and sociological deliberations on the values of contemporary forms of marriage and partnership in different cultures with ever faster-changing societies. What is the status of marriage in a world that faces demographic transitions, shifts in the composition of families, increasing divorce rates, secularisation on the one hand and religious conservatism on the other? In the discussion of such pressing questions we will cover a wide area of subjects ranging from marriage equality, arranged and forced marriages to domestic violence and plural marriages. Recent developments in marital law, like the same-sex marriage legislation in the U.S. following a Supreme Court ruling in 2015, and religious declarations, like the 14th Synod of Bishops in the Roman Catholic Church which sees minor changes in the options for remarried divorcees, may be indications of either re-interpretations or adherences to a conventional concept of marriage. Other possible topics for articles may include:

Influences of female empowerment on marriage
Reasons for and against marriage equality (do queer people want marriage?)
Changing societies and its implications for marriage and family
Debate on marital values in modern societies
Issues of forced marriage and domestic violence
Alternative life concepts to marriage?
History of marriage
…

Please note that all submissions must have a strong emphasis on gender issues. Abstracts of no more than 300 words and a brief biography should be submitted by March 1, 2017. The deadline for the completed papers of 5000-8000 words (MLA style, numbered paragraphs) is April 1, 2017.

(Publication date: Summer 2017)