RE-CALIBRATING FAMILY LIFE IN THE AGE OF INDIVIDUAL AUTONOMY: COMPARATIVE INSIGHTS ON MARRIAGE, PARENTHOOD, AND STATE INTERVENTION

Abstract

Across the twenty-first century, family life is being re-calibrated by a pronounced normative and legal turn toward individual autonomy. Marriage is increasingly viewed as one option among many rather than a compulsory life script; parenthood is decoupled from conjugal status and biological ties through assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs); and states are moving from policing “family morality” toward enabling plural, self-authored life courses. Drawing on liberal, communicant, feminist-care, and capability approaches, this paper offers a comparative sociological analysis of how autonomy reshapes marriage, parenthood, and state intervention. Five stylized family-policy regimes—liberal Anglo-American, social-democratic Nordic, conservative-corporate continental Europe, high-income East Asia, and plural personal-law contexts such as India—are examined. The analysis advances three claims: (a) autonomy has pluralized family forms without adequate re calibration of care infrastructures, (b) universal social rights reduce conflicts between self-authorship and interdependence, and (c) the next frontier is relational autonomy—policies that respect choice while supporting care giving and children’s interests. Design principles for autonomy-compatible family policy and a future research agenda conclude the study.