FAMILY law is in turmoil. It is on the front pages of our newspapers and is implicated in some of our deepest cultural dilemmas and conflicts, from no-fault divorce to the legal status of unmarried cohabiters to, most recently, same-sex marriage. The courts are actively engaged in reconstructing the public meanings of family and marriage, while lawyers and legal theorists have been pressing forward on new, cutting-edge issues. Family law now operates in a global context, with legal scholars in one nation often influencing their peers elsewhere.