Paper Short Abstract:

This paper explores how marriage practices among Kosovo Albanians in Switzerland reshape kinship and ethnic identities. Based on fieldwork, it examines how marital choices renegotiate cultural norms, challenge static notions of identity, and reveal the fluidity of belonging in a transnational context.

Paper Abstract:

This paper examines how marriage practices among Kosovo Albanians in Switzerland engage with the dynamic processes of "unwriting" kinship and ethnic identities. Drawing from my ongoing PhD research, including four months of intensive fieldwork in the canton of Zurich, I analyze how marriages serve as a space where traditional understandings of kinship could be renegotiated, ethnic identities redefined, and social boundaries reimagined or alternatively, where these dimensions risk being completely disrupted.

By focusing on the lived experiences and narratives of individuals within this diaspora community, the study explores how marital choices challenge rigid cultural frameworks and disrupt static notions of identity—particularly when individuals choose partners outside their ethnic group. Such decisions often navigate competing social and cultural expectations, which can simultaneously weaken connections to kinship ties in both the homeland and host country.

Through an ethnographic approach that integrates in-depth interviews and participant observation, this paper engages with the broader theme of "unwriting" by questioning established paradigms of kinship and identity in the anthropology of migration and diaspora studies. It demonstrates that marriage, as a deeply personal yet profoundly social act, is a powerful lens through which to examine the fluidity and complexity of belonging, cultural continuity, and adaptation in transnational contexts.

This contribution offers a fresh perspective on the intersection of kinship, ethnicity, and migration. By rethinking conventional narratives, it enriches our understanding of identity formation and the evolving dynamics of kinship in diasporic communities.