Familienrechte unter den Bedingungen der Moderne - eine Erprobung

Family Law Under the Conditions of Modernity- An Assay. Since the turn of the twentieth century, many European legal concepts of marriage, divorce, parentage, and family have been fundamentally transformed. These shifts are spoken of in terms of relaxation, liberalization, pluralization, individualization, and emancipation, whereupon family law is often said to have been »modernized« or become »more modern«, premised on the everyday usage of »modern« to signify what is new or has changed. This article focuses instead on the concept of modernity as the quintessential identifier of particular legal ideals and particular assumptions about developments in the law as they have unfolded in the sociological theory of modernization. Based on examples, this article shows how family law in European jurisdictions can be described as »modern« in this specific sense of the word, identifies the legal structures through which these modernizing instances have been accomplished, and points out ongoing tensions over the legal ideals of modernity. The result is a nuanced portrait of the modernity of family law in Europe and the various dynamics affecting it. Modernity is as much of a failure as it is a fait accompli. But modernity has fundamentally changed expectations, both about how the core notions of family law are to be justified as well as about law's legitimate function.