Paper short abstract:

I examine changing models of what constitutes an ideal marital relationship amongst urban Chinese. The rise and expectation that marriage should be organized around the expression of love and less with the fulfillment of familial duties is creating enormous tensions within the Chinese marital bond.

Paper long abstract:

No culture is ever completely successful or satisfied with its synthesis or reconciliation of love and sex, though every culture is compelled to attempt one. No matter how socially humane, politically enlightened, spiritually attuned, or technologically adapted, failure is the name of the game. Whether in the industrial city or the agricultural village, there is tension between sexual mores and proscriptions regrading the proper context for expressing love and sex. At the individual level, the compulsion is one of personal satisfaction and emotional health, while at the social level it is one of social order and cultural survival. In this paper I will examine the changing models of what constitutes an ideal marital relationship amongst urban Chinese. The rise and expectation that marriage should be organized around the expression of love and less with the fulfillment of familial duties is creating enormous tensions within the Chinese marital bond. This is especially so when woman are the carries of the ideal that marriage is an emotional bond; while men continue to react within the marriage (as opposed to dating)as if marriage is best when organized around the performance of duty. The two ideals, their interrelationship and distinctiveness present different structural and psychological dilemmas for the individual and the society. A range of cultural responses to the two co-existing proclivities will be explored as well as the gender bias in the preferred metaphors used to talk about love and sex. The data that forms my analysis is from field research conducted in 1981-1987 and then again between 2000-2011.

Paper short abstract:

Based on fieldwork in Calcutta middle-class families the paper discusses the assumption that under processes of globalisation 'coupledom' and modern subjectivities expressed in the form of 'freely chosen' love marriages substitute the more contractual arranged marriages.

Paper long abstract:

The paper discusses the emergence of new discourses on love, sexual relations and marriage in Calcutta middle-class families and critically debates the claim of globalisation theory that postcolonial societies are marked by the rise of identity politics and the demise of the institution of marriage. Based on data drawn from long-term fieldwork the paper argues that whereas idioms of romantic love and courtship before marriage are embraced by young women in Calcutta, the structural constraints of patrilocality and the ideological commitment to the joint family prevent make self-chosen marriages an uncertain choice and prevent 'love marriage' from becoming the norm. Instead, arranged marriages are increasingly seen as the perfect modern solution to solve the tension between middle-class anxieties about the reproduction of class whilst parenting rather than coupledom becomes the site for the fulfilment of individual desires and modern subjectivities.

Paper short abstract:

As Chinese society becomes more competitive, young people are criticised as self-centred and ‘hedonistic’. However, choosing a marriage partner remains a family affair. Youngsters speak of ‘romantic’ love and compare it to their parents’ views, revealing both continuity and change across the Reform.

Paper long abstract:

The title of this paper echoes the words of Ma Nuo, a Chinese girl who recently became famous by taking part to the matchmaking TV programme 'Feicheng Wurao' (If You Are Not The One). Ma Nuo's words fuelled the already heated public debate on the 'rise of materialism' in China. According to many, in fact, she represents a 'hedonistic' generation concerned with personal wealth and glamour rather than with national and family values.

This paper explores the ways in which young people in urban China frame and pursue their aspirations around coupling and marriage.

Nowadays, young Chinese must compete on the job market to be able to afford those goods and services that were once state-provided. In this increasingly insecure context, marriage represents a vital opportunity to consolidate one's social, symbolic and economic capital. Besides, marriage remains a family affair in which relatives retain an important say, notwithstanding the large amount of autonomy that many young people enjoy.

At the same time, many youngsters frame their experiences in terms of 'romantic' love, comparing them to the stories of their relatives, who lived during pre- and early-Reform times. These comparisons, however, reveal both continuity and change across the Reform watershed.

Ideas of 'materialism', 'romantic love' and family pressure might seem at odds with each other. Yet, in the context of everyday practice the presence of different moral discourses allows people to frame their choices in terms that defy binary divisions between modern and traditional, individual and collective, emotional and material.

Paper short abstract:

The paper will reflect on various kinds of intermediaries who allow middle class families to limit risk in matchmaking, since they help to locate apparently 'suitable' grooms or brides and verify their qualities.

Paper long abstract:

Arranged marriage owes its uncontested popularity among the middle-class to its outstanding flexibility. Over the years, it has integrated many changes regarding criteria of selection, intermediaries involved in the matrimonial strategies and selection process (with a growing implication of the young generation).

The paper will reflect on various kinds of intermediaries who allow middle-class families to locate apparently 'suitable' grooms or brides (fulfilling the required - personal, familial, collective - criteria) and verify their qualities (including those of their family members).

While 'traditional' service castes who had an intimate knowledge of their patrons religiousness, body and genealogy (Brahman, Barber, Genealogist) were left out in the selection process, other ones came into use, in particular modern and global intermediaries such as Newspapers and, more recently, Internet. Their growing role in matrimonial strategies did not however marginalize the specific contribution of kin and caste. Families appeal to kin solidarity and rely on new caste structures, such as marriage fairs (mainly intended for middle-class and poor families).

By doing so, they intend to limit risk taking in matchmaking and to make sure that the new couple, and their respective kin (as well as the community) will reap the (short and long term) benefits expected from marriage.

My paper will be based on a long term fieldwork accomplished in the early nineties among middle-class families in Jaipur, Rajasthan, and focus in particular on Maheshwaris (who belong to the Marwaris, a well-known business community).

Paper short abstract:

Lack of state welfare provision in rural China makes the issue of social support a salient factor in marriage choices. Various structural inequalities compete with notions of "romantic love" when rural Chinese choose their marriage partners, making parents advance their children’s position in the ‘marriage market’ by supporting their education.

Paper long abstract:

Long Abstract:

For centuries marriage in China has been the central institution for creating alliances between families. Communist rule attacked and destroyed many aspects of patriarchal family organization (Davis 1993), inducing a power shift towards the conjugal bond consolidated during the reform period (Yan 2003). Yet, while "romantic love" certainly is relevant to spouse selection in contemporary rural China, lack of state welfare provision together with an increasing sense of uncertainty make the issue of social support a particularly salient factor in marriage choices. Unequal access to state welfare between population with rural and with urban household registration, as well as other kinds of spatial hierarchies reflecting differential socio-economic development, structure the 'traditionally' hypergamic orientation of the 'marriage market' and shape perceptions of status and power relations between actual and potential marriage partners. This paper analyses how various forms of structural inequalities caused by state policies in the field of population, education, and economic development compete with notions (and feelings) of "romantic love" when rural Chinese choose their marriage partners. Focusing on the situation of students and graduates from rural areas, the paper will draw particular attention to the role of parents in these private negotiations, analyzing parental efforts to try to advance their children's position in the 'marriage market' by supporting their education.

Paper short abstract:

Based on ethnographic research in Tiruppur, a booming garment centre in Tamil Nadu, this paper explores contemporary practices and discourses of love marriages. It analyses moral discourses that surround such marriages and considers 'money' as a key trope through which moral evaluations are made.

Paper long abstract:

The post-liberalisation era in India has produced a wealth of opportunities for large sections of the rural and urban population. Developing industries and rapidly growing urban regions have enriched many urban groups and attracted rural migrants to town. Rapidly developing urban centres, however, are replete with moral evaluations of the changes that their populations are undergoing. Many such evaluations dwell on the changing sphere of the intimate, the family, and not in the least changing marriage patterns and conjugal relationships.

Based on long-term ethnographic research in Tiruppur, a booming garment export centre in Tamil Nadu, south India, this paper explores how love marriages and the weakening of the extended family among workers are deplored by locals as a sign of a more general degeneration of society and loss of morality. The paper considers love marriages and changing marriage practices, the ways in which these are talked about and evaluated, and the negotiations and compromises that surround them. Moral discourses surrounding love marriages are mobilised by local and high caste communities to distinguish themselves from both poorer fellow caste members and working-class migrants. Money, it appears, is central to marriage discourses, especially in terms of financial support. Whether in relation to dowry in arranged marriages or financial hardship in love marriages, financial considerations are the very trope through which moral evaluations are made and expressed. In the neo-liberal era, love marriages are denounced as irresponsible as they risk undermining 'family support', which remains much needed to increase chances of doing well in post-liberalisation India.

Paper short abstract:

This paper discusses individual and family strategies towards marriage in today's urban China. It will develop on the process of acquaintanceship among prospective families and youths, the way they engage in relationships, and the criteria of their search.

Paper long abstract:

Caught in the context of a highly competitive development process, within the framework of a policy that limits their reproductive capacity to a single child, PRC urban families have, in recent decades, attached growing importance to their child's education, aiming to lead them to professional and personal success. They thus place the burden of an undisappointable promise for the future on their heirs, making of them what Vanessa Fong calls their « only hope » (Fong, 2004).

Within this framework, single-child marriages are a central issue of concern for these families, for whom any mistake in the development of their child's life could represent a menace for their future lifestyles. In recent years, observable trends of transformation of the practice of « mutual familiarization » (xiangqin 相亲) - an important step in the acquaintanceship of families before the wedding - reveals its centrality for maintaining and developing their life resources.

Among these evolutions is the appearance of anxious bachelors' parents gatherings within city parks in the 2000s decade, all over the country. It consequently brought questions to light, concerning approaches to the question of marriage, and the social issues that the connection of two families through this social contract engages. The interconnection of personal sentiments, concrete considerations, and desires of success, thus appear as a very controversial issue. From fieldwork and interviews conducted within parental meetings in the cities of Beijing and Chengdu, I propose to present the concurrent social strategies they reveal, and the way parents discuss them.

Paper short abstract:

In this paper I will look at instances of inter-religious marriages and romantic relationships between Muslims and Hindus in a small town in Gujarat, India. I argue that these relations can at once serve to both undermine as well as support wider ethnic stereotypes and ideologies in the region.

Paper long abstract:

In this paper I will look at instances of inter-religious marriages and romantic relationships between Muslims and Hindus in a small town in Gujarat, India. I argue that despite Gujarat's reputation as a haven of communal antagonism and tension, there continue to exist places, particularly outside of the major urban centres, in which links between members of the two communities remain a significant part of everyday life. In the cases detailed in this paper, love and sexuality can be seen as both upholding and reinforcing common stereotypes in India of the aggressive and lustful Muslim male seeking to seduce and dishonour Hindu women (and thereby the Hindu community as a whole) which has been brandished widely by Hindu nationalist organizations and discourses. On a more idealistic level, however, such relationships can also be argued to defy the wider communalist practices and ideologies which purport that the two communities are intrinsically opposed and share no mutual common ground.

Paper short abstract:

This paper focuses on the relationship between Islam, a matrifocal social structure and the sexual choices of some marginal teen agers in post-conflict Aceh (Indonesia).I shall examine what happens to teen-agers being discovered having sexual intercourse and therefore, according to Islamic law, being forced to marry.

Paper long abstract:

This paper focuses on the relationship between Islam, a matrifocal social structure and the sexual choices of some marginal teen agers in post-conflict Aceh (Indonesia). In Aceh, sexuality has been massively affected by the transformations depending on the implementation of Syariat Islam (Islamic Law) which ensued the end of the conflict. From time to time, the Syariat Police ("Wilayatul Hisba" or "WH") carry out razias or convict people, both women and men, and incriminate them with violation of either aurat or khalwat, when not for committing zina ("fornication").

Here, I shall examine what happens to teen-agers being discovered having sexual intercourse and therefore, according to Islamic law, being forced to marry. They undertake a "village marriage" (nikah kampung), celebrated only by the Islamic authority (tengku) and not registered in the Department of Religious Affairs.

Because it is exclusively addressing the spiritual or religious level, it enables a quick separation. Nevertheless, it creates a new status for the young divorcees. The change can be dramatic for girls, especially if they give birth to a baby. Acehnese matrifocal structure, though, provides a certain frame to include young divorced mothers, as I have shown elsewhere. Here, I mainly examine fathers. What are the consequences of an early marriage for a boy who has chosen to have sexual intercourse and entered a marriage which was designed to end the day after it has begun?

The paper is based on an ongoing fieldwork, started in 2008 and carried at different times since then. The most recent data will be collected in march 2012.

Paper short abstract:

Based on ethnographic research in poor rural areas in Guangdong, this paper explores how marriage and intimate relations are being refashioned in rural China in the context of entangled intersections between private and public negotiations. Particular attention is given to issues of family planning

Paper long abstract:

This paper explores a Chinese case study on the disruption of 'traditional intimacies' that draws particular attention to questions of sexuality and family planning. Based on data drawn from long-term fieldwork in a lineage-village in Northern Guangdong, the paper shows how economic liberalization and above all the implementation of the 'one-child policy' have encouraged the emergence of new attitudes towards sexuality, gender relations, and family size. This shift was somewhat sudden and had a strong component of 'social engineering' that contributed to the emergence of a particular set of intimate choices and troubles. People's lives have become increasingly trapped within wider bureaucratizing and commercializing forces, but the local patriarchal lineage culture remains very powerful and children remain important economic assets. Infringing official birth quotas can help soothe parental anxieties over the future, but it often leads to harsh penalties like sexual sterilization and sometimes to significant conjugal tensions. These local developments reflect both regional specificities and wider trends in rural China; but they also present striking points of intersection with global late modern concerns over the rights and obligations of people in the more intimate spheres of life like sexuality, having children, and other personal issues.

Paper short abstract:

The paper will discuss intimate relationships from the point of view of women who have experienced violence and who stay in women’s shelters, that is from the “dark side”, and will try to understand current ideas about marriage and intimacy in Turkey and the impact of feminism, if it exists.

Paper long abstract:

Over the past five years, the discussions on domestic violence in Turkey have attained an unforeseen visibility and lead to a widespread discussion in the public sphere about the nature of marriage. It came nearly as a shock that the rates of violence against women in the family were so high, even though the feminists were arguing for it for over two decades. Consequently, the (republican) promise that marriage was the place of harmony and love was largely challenged. In this process, the role of feminist movement was undeniable in putting questions about violence and marriage on the agenda, and arguing for the promotion of women's rights, which can be seen as an instance of the spread of globalized "feminist" framework for intimate relations.

Subsequently, in this paper, I would like to focus on the question of how marriage / intimate relations are experienced by the women who are the actual "subjects" of these discussions about violence and marriage. For this purpose, I will draw on my fieldwork in three women's shelters in Turkey, and try to demonstrate their hopes, dreams and lived experiences with regards to marriage and family. Indeed, as the places that offer assistance to women who had the problem of violence during their marriages, the shelters provide us with an understanding of marriage from the point of view of its "dark sides", while also letting us to think about the globalized frameworks with regards to intimate relations (in this case, through the prism of feminism).

Paper short abstract:

Through investigating the concept of citizenship regarding how a female marriage immigrant from Mainland China to Taiwan can become a member of Taiwanese society, we can see the way gender located in national projects.

Paper long abstract:

Gender is an inextricable aspect for Mainland spouses who are marriage immigrants from Mainland China to Taiwan. Also, in the case of economically upward social mobilization, it is not rare to see gender expectation imposed on marriage immigrants. However, in Mainland spouse case in Taiwan, gender expectation of describing them as subordinate wives and reproductive mothers are embedded in the law regulating their affairs and status: Act Governing Relations between Peoples of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland China Area.

For Mainland spouses, the delivery of citizenship, the qualification of becoming a member of the society, is determined by their matrimony and breeding capability. Here, nation and paternity develop a conspiracy in the way which national arrangements are exercised by paternity and paternity is deepened by national construction. When traditional paternity culture and Taiwanese nationalism cooperate with each other, gender equality is absorbed into the national issue. This assimilation turns to oppress Mainland spouses' consciousness and resistances and there is little room given to their own voices, desires and agency as new citizens.

Therefore I seek to discuss, Mainland spouses as the convergent point of nation, gender and economic inequality deteriorated by globalization, how their rights are restricted and how they have resisted against the dominant discourse of stigmatize them in many ways. Through investigating the concept of citizenship regarding how a female marriage immigrant from Mainland China can become a member of Taiwanese society, we can see the way gender located in national projects.