The Limits to Union: Same-sex Marriage and the Politics of Civil Rights (Law, Meaning & Violence) - Softcover

"Insightful, interdisciplinary, and theoretically wide-ranging. Goldberg-Hiller explores the 'declining salience of abstract rights amid a surging sovereignty politics.' The Limits to Union provides a welcome and much needed political economy of lesbian and gay marriage--in its local, national, and global manifestations. A breath of fresh air, an essential read, and an impressive achievement." --Didi Herman, Keele University -- (10/29/2001) "A major work of sociolegal scholarship, Goldberg-Hiller moves effortlessly between local struggles and global debates in his analysis of the movement for same-sex marriage rights. Interrogating key concepts such as sovereignty, contract, status and culture itself, the author provides a deeply textured and nuanced analysis of the politics of marriage, law, and sexuality. Goldberg-Hiller has documented a legal struggle and an historical moment of great significance." --Carl Stychin, University of Reading -- (10/29/2001) "In this excellent book, Golberg-Hiller uses Hawaii's experience to examine the interaction between courts and the political system...Relying on briefs, legislative statements, and interviews with activists from both sides of the question, he views this familiar debate...through the unfamiliar prism of gay marriage, which allows him to gauge the viability and the pliability of the American civil rights ideal, and how gay and lesbian issues fit (or don't fit) within that ideal." --William Heinzen, New York Law Journal, August 21, 2002 -- (08/21/2002) ." . . this book is an important contribution to our understanding of the social forces that oppose not just same-sex marriage, but civil rights more generally. . . . The Limits to Union is a valuable contribution to the field, situating the gay marriage debate in broader contexts of theory, law and practice. Although same-sex marriage is an important issue in and of itself, it is an issue that finds itself caught in the friction points of much larger debates over the nature of rights, the limits of sovereignty and the proper role of courts and law in a democratic society. It should therefore be of interest even to those who do not think of themselves as interested in gay and lesbian rights issues." --Evan Gerstmann, Loyola Marymount University, Law and Politics Book Review, Volume 12, No. 4 (April 2002) -- (04/29/2002) "Goldberg-Hiller presents the history of the same-sex marriage question since it first sparked debate in Hawaii. He follows the shifting debate through court cases, state propositions, and state and federal legislatures, considering questions about the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act and the concept of equal protection under the law for gays and lesbians. This detailed treatment of the legal issues surrounding same-sex marriages is highly recommended..." --R. L. Abbott, University of Evansville, CHOICE, Volume 40, No. 3 (November 2002) -- (11/01/2004) ." . . a superb book about the complexities of recent political struggles over same-sex marriage. Goldberg-Hillier offers a sophisticated account of egalitarian rights advocacy and the reaction it has generated from established majorities animated by a 'new common sense' of exclusionary sovereign authority. The author's analysis is multidimensional and nuanced, but the core argument is bold, important, and well supported. I recommend it very highly to everyone interested in understanding the character, possibilities, and constraints of civil rights amid our contemporary culture wars." --Michael McCann, University of Washington -- (10/29/2001)

Revised and updated to include the most current information on same-sex marriage, The Limits to Union documents a legal struggle at its moment of greatest historical importance. "The Limits to Union is a superb book about the complexities of recent political struggles over same-sex marriage. Goldberg-Hiller offers a sophisticated account of egalitarian rights advocacy and the reaction it has generated from established majorities animated by a 'new common sense' of exclusionary sovereign authority. The author's analysis is multidimensional and nuanced, but the core argument is bold, important, and well-supported. I recommend it very highly to everyone interested in understanding the character, possibilities, and constraints of civil rights amid our contemporary culture wars." -Michael McCann, author of Rights at Work: Pay Equity Reform and the Politics of Legal Mobilization "In this excellent book, Goldberg-Hiller uses Hawaii's experience to examine the interaction between courts and the political system. . . . Relying on briefs, legislative statements, and interviews with activists from both sides of the question, he views this familiar debate . . . through the unfamiliar prism of gay marriage, which allows him to gauge the viability and the pliability of the American civil rights ideal, and how gay and lesbian issues fit (or don't fit) within that ideal." -Willian Heinzen, New York Law Journal "Goldberg-Hiller presents the history of the same-sex marriage question since it first sparked debate in Hawaii. He follows the shifting debate through court cases, state propositions, and state and federal legislatures, considering questions about the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act and the concept of equal protection under the law for gays and lesbians. This detailed treatment of the legal issues surrounding same-sex marriages is highly recommended." -R. L. Abbott, University of Evansville "[A] valuable contribution to the field, situating the gay marriage debate in broader contexts of theory, law and practice. [S]ame-sex marriage is an important issue...that finds itself caught in the friction points of much larger debates over the nature of rights, the limits of sovereignty and the proper role of courts and law in a democratic society. The Limits to Union should therefore be of interest even to those who do not think of themselves as interested in gay and lesbian rights issues." -Evan Gerstmann, Loyola Marymount University, Law and Politics Book Review