Love and Freedom

In Love and Freedom, Jorge Ferrer proposes a paradigm shift in how romantic relationships are conceptualized, a step forward in the evolution of modern relationships. In the same way that the transgender movement surmounted the gender binary, Ferrer defines how a parallel step can-and should-be taken with the relational style binary. This book offers the first systematic discussion of relationship modes beyond monogamy and polyamory, as well as introduces the notion of "relational freedom" as the capability to choose one's relational style free from biological, psychological, and sociocultural conditionings. To achieve these goals, Ferrer first discusses a number of critical categories-specifically, monopride/polyphobia, and polypride/monophobia-that mediate the contemporary "mono-poly wars," that is, the predicament of mutual competition among monogamists and polyamorists. The ideological nature of these "mono-poly wars" is demonstrated through a review of available empirical literature on the psychological health and relationship quality of monogamous and polyamorous individuals and couples. Then, after showing how monogamy and polyamory ultimately reinforce each other, Ferrer articulates three relational pathways to living in-between, through, and beyond the mono/poly binary: fluidity, hybridity, and transcendence. Moving beyond that binary opens a fuzzy, liminal, and multivocal relational space that Ferrer calls novogamy. In this groundbreaking book, readers will learn practical tools to not only transform jealousy, but also enhance their relational freedom while being aware of key issues of diversity and social justice. They will also learn novel criteria to evaluate the success of their intimate relationships, and be introduced to a transformed vision of romantic love beyond both monocentrism and emerging polynormativities.

Jorge N. Ferrer is a clinical psychologist, author, and educator. He was a professor of psychology for more than 20 years at California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco, where he also served as chair of the Department of East-West Psychology. He has published several books and many articles on psychology, education, and religious studies, and his work on alternative intimate relationships has been featured in journals such as Sexuality and Culture and Psychology and Sexuality. Ferrer was an advisor to the Religions for Peace organization at the United Nations. He coined the term "novogamy," which was published in Springer Nature's Encyclopedia of Sexual Psychology and Behavior in June 2023 and is being used widely in the academic literature.

Introduction
1 Relational Freedom and the Crisis of Modern Relationships
2 Mononormativity, Polypride, and the "Mono-Poly Wars"
3 Sympathetic Joy: Beyond Jealousy, Toward Relational Freedom
4 The Dawn of Transbinary Relationships
5 Relational Freedom and the Transformation of Intimate Relationships
Coda: After Covid-19
Appendix I: Ten Theses on Relationships Styles
Appendix II: The Alpha Male versus the Omega Man
References
Index