With all my worldly goods I thee endow: A study of marital property, law and ideology in American culture.

Title: With all my worldly goods I thee endow: A study of marital property, law and ideology in American culture.
Identifier: AAI9020746
identifier: 9020746
Creator: Brett, Leslie Jan.
Contributor: Adviser: Jane Schneider
Date: 1990
Language: English
Publisher: City University of New York.
Subject: Anthropology, Cultural | Law
Abstract: This thesis is an inquiry into the nature of ideology in a modern capitalist society and an examination of the role of law in shaping, reflecting or obscuring social relations. Marital property laws and the divorce process in a New England community were chosen as a case study because divorce is a process through which women, men, and the state redefine their social and property relations to each other. The research demonstrates how marital property laws under capitalism are contrary to the relations of dependency which characterize families. It traces the historical significance of this contradiction in terms of gender inequality, the ideology of a public/private dichotomy and the contest between families and the state for social control over people and property. The research also explores the paradox of legal fetishism and simultaneous alienation from family laws felt by both men and women.
Type: dissertation
Source: PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
degree: Ph.D.

Media: With all my worldly goods I thee endow: A study of marital property, law and ideology in American culture.