What is a Family?

Available open access under CC-BY-NC-ND licence.

How families are formed, lived and understood has shifted dramatically—yet legal frameworks often still reflect outdated norms. This collection brings together a diverse team of international contributors to explore what a family is through a variety of disciplinary perspectives, including law, psychology, economics, family science and history, inviting transdisciplinary reflections on family regulation.

By examining how legal systems respond to, resist, or incorporate diverse family forms, from non-marital partnerships to trans families, the book reveals the tensions between lived realities and legal recognition. Offering fresh insight into how regulation shapes and is shaped by evolving family life, this book is essential for scholars interested in family law, social policy and the changing dynamics of kinship.