Beyond Family

First Edition: February 2024

Beginning by declaring ‘Familia delenda est!’ or “the Family is (to be) destroyed” Bülent Somay argues that the nuclear family is repressive and regressive and needs to be replaced.

“The family has now become a hindrance against expanding our horizons, increasing our knowledge, imagining and experimenting new modes of existence, not only for women, but also for children who will become men, women, straight and gay persons, transgender and fluid-gender people, in short, all of us.”

“With exquisite eloquence and erudition, Bülent Somay shows us why we must move beyond the family, long deteriorating anyway. There are far better ways of satisfying our needs and desires for love, care and sustenance than traditional kin structures have ever offered. This historically grounded, rigorous and compassionate analysis of the complexities of our human hearts and endless needs paves the way for the radical possibilities we can all embrace and work for.” – Lynne Segal