Abstract
The formation of a marriage or civil partnership is frequently conceptualised as one of the most intimate relationships that people enter into. Such relationships are predicated on particular assumptions of romantic love at the point of entry into the marriage or civil partnership and on mutual consent with individuals operating as autonomous agents. However, there are two other types of marriage which question the taken for granted assumptions above. Firstly, arranged marriages where parents or other relatives traditionally find a marriage partner for their adult child and the marriage is entered into with both parties consenting. Importantly, this form of marriage does not require love to be present at the start of the marriage, but rather it is assumed that love will grow and develop in time. Secondly, in contrast, the case of forced marriage where one or neither parties consent to form a union, yet are forced to do so by family poses challenges not just to what constitutes marriage as commonly understood, but to the notion of the autonomous agent.Drawing on empirical work on forced marriage, this paper uses an intersectional, critical approach to analyse accounts of survivors of forced marriage to develop a multi-layered analysis of the inter-relationships between individuals, family, culture and structural inequalities and argues that such an approach is essential to avoid pathologising individuals or cultures whilst at the same time critiquing practices of forced marriage.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | host publication |
| Publication status | Published - 14 Sept 2011 |
| Event | Proximities: Thinking about Relationality - University of Manchester Duration: 14 Sept 2011 → 15 Sept 2011 |
Conference
| Conference | Proximities: Thinking about Relationality |
|---|---|
| City | University of Manchester |
| Period | 14/09/11 → 15/09/11 |
Keywords
- Love, arranged & forced marriage
