ABSTRACT
“Legal pluralism” is hot. Indeed, “legal pluralism is everywhere.” As Brian Tamanaha observes, not only is there “in every social arena one examines, a seeming multiplicity of legal orders, from the lowest local level to the most expansive global level,” but, in the last few decades, legal pluralism itself “has become a major topic in legal anthropology, legal sociology, comparative law, international law, and socio-legal studies”. The Multi-Tiered Marriage Project calls for a national conversation on this interaction between state and non-state power with respect to jurisdiction over marriage and divorce. The political and legal battles over same-sex marriage seem to be one motivating factor in the demand for both forms of legal pluralism. Covenant marriage also reflects a congruence strategy: It harnesses state power to instantiate an ideal of marriage in keeping with Christian traditions about permanence and mutual sacrifice.
