Domestic reforms : political visions and family regulation in British Columbia, 1862-1940 / Christopher Allan Clarkson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Clarkson, Christopher Allan, 1969-

Series:

Law and society series (Vancouver, B.C.)

Law & society, 1496-4953

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Family policy--British Columbia--History.

Family policy.

Domestic relations--British Columbia--History.

Domestic relations.

Domestic relations--British Columbia--Legislative history.

Physical Description:

294 p.

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Vancouver : UBC Press, c2007.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Domestic Reforms tells a complicated story of family and welfare law reform within the context of British Columbia's transformation from a British colonial enclave to a white settler Canadian province. It inherited a British legal system that granted married men control over most family property and imposed few obligations on them toward their wives and children. Yet from the 1860s onward, lawmakers throughout the Anglo-American world, including legislators on the Pacific Coast, began to grant women and children new rights. Feminist scholars have long debated the reasons for these reforms. Why did male legislators choose to depart from patriarchal norms, enacting laws that eroded husbands' control over property and increased their obligations? More important, what were the legal and social consequences? Chris Clarkson examines three waves of property, inheritance, and maintenance law reform, arguing that each was related to a broader political vision intended to precipitate vast social and economic effects. He analyzes the impact of the legislation, with emphasis on the ambitions of regulated populations, the influence of the judiciary, and the social and fiscal concerns of generations of legislators and bureaucrats.

Contents:

Front Matter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations

Introduction

The Yeoman Dream

Deserted Wives and Independent Men

Married Women, Country Wives, and Destitute Orphans

Chivalry and the Democratic Judiciary

A Vision of Mutualistic Hierarchy

Creditors' Rights, the 1887 Married Women's Property Act, and the Emergence of a Liberal Femininity

The Conservation of Child-Life

Maintaining the "Hope of the Race": Child-Saving in a Conservative Era, 1901-15

Child Protection and Women's Equality in the Liberal Era, 1916-23

Public Policy, Published Decisions, and Police Courts

Conclusion

Notes

Select Bibliography

Index

Law and Society

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-282-59333-1

9786612593338

0-7748-5555-X

OCLC:

923445373