Book Forum: Janet Carsten’s Marriage and the Moral Imagination

At this book forum event, Janet Carsten – author of Marriage and the moral imagination (CUP, 2026) – will join a panel of speakers to examine how intimate relations generate ethical reflection, shape kinship practices, and illuminate the moral underpinnings of social and political life. While anthropologists and sociologists have often interpreted marriage, and kinship more broadly, in conservative terms, in this book Carsten highlights their transformative possibilities.

The book argues that marriage is a close encounter with difference on the most intimate scale, carrying the seeds of social transformation alongside the trappings of conformity. Grounded in rich ethnography and the author's many decades of familiarity with Malaysia, it asks a central question: what does marriage do, and how?

Co-badged with The Centre for Research on Families & Relationships , Social Anthropology, and the Kinship Hub.

Refreshments will follow the discussion.

Speakers

Professor Janet Carsten, Professor Emerita of Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Edinburgh

Dr Asha Abeyasekera, Lecturer, Centre for Women's Studies, University of York

Dr Perveez Mody, Associate Professor, Fellow & Director of Studies in Social Anthropology, King's College, University of Cambridge

Dr Siobhan Magee, Lecturer in Social Anthropology, University of Edinburgh

Dr Kaveri Qureshi, Senior Lecturer in Social Policy, University of Edinburgh

Chaired by Dr Shruti Chaudhry, Chancellor's Fellow in sociology and co-director of the Centre for Research on Families and Relationships

Registration

Click here to register via Eventbrite.

This is a free event, which means we overbook to allow for no-shows and to avoid empty seats. While we generally do not have to turn people away, this does mean we cannot guarantee everyone a place. Admission is on a first-come, first-served basis.

Please note, filming, recording and/or photography may take place at this event.

If you have any queries regarding this event, please email gender.ed@ed.ac.uk.