Marriage at the intersection between tradition and globalization

Nordic journal of migration research, 2011

This article starts by asking whether economic motivations can explain why so many youngsters with a migrant background choose to marry a relatively unknown partner from the same region as their parents came from, a region that is largely unknown to them, and conversely why so many young people in countries in the South are opting for an unknown partner living in a far away country. In answering these questions Turkish marriage migration to Belgium will be used as a case study, since it offers several helpful insights in understanding the dynamics of marriage migration. The main focus of this article is on the relevance of socioeconomic explanations in understanding this issue. Economic reasons obviously play a role, but it is clear that they alone do not fully explain this phenomenon. The case described shows that reasons for migration go beyond economic benefits, permitting the conclusion that the popularity of marriage migration can only be explained by taking multiple frames of reference into account. Given the poor prospects and poor labour market situations for Turkish migrants, economic motivation seems an insufficient explanation of the phenomenon. It is clear that the existence of a "culture of migration" that binds the region of origin with the region of destination, one in which "the family" as an institution is capable of bridging the traditional praxis and the challenges linked to international migration, is complementary to understanding the enduring popularity of marriage migration between Emirdağ and Flanders.

Nordic Journal of Migration Research, 2011

International Migration Review, 2010

This paper examines the transition to a first union of descendants of Turkish immigrants in France. We use data from the project The Integration of the European Second Generation, 2007, and apply eventhistory techniques. We find that descendants of Turkish immigrants who grew up in France enter a first union earlier and more often in a direct marriage than do young adults without an immigrant background. We then describe the type of union in more detail and estimate the likelihood of a transnational partner choice, that is, between a young adult born in France of Turkish immigrant parentage and an immigrant from Turkey. We pay attention to social factors such as education, city of residence, and to cultural factors such as the rules of affinity in Turkey and the attachment to the norm of virginity at marriage as factors that orient partner choice. Finally, we discuss what anthropological methods could contribute to this research.

International Migration Review, 2010

This paper examines the transition to a first union of descendants of Turkish immigrants in France. We use data from the project The Integration of the European Second Generation, 2007, and apply event-history techniques. We find that descendants of Turkish immigrants who grew up in France enter a first union earlier and more often in a direct marriage than do young adults without an immigrant background. We then describe the type of union in more detail and estimate the likelihood of a transnational partner choice, that is, between a young adult born in France of Turkish immigrant parentage and an immigrant from Turkey. We pay attention to social factors such as education, city of residence, and to cultural factors such as the rules of affinity in Turkey and the attachment to the norm of virginity at marriage as factors that orient partner choice. Finally, we discuss what anthropological methods could contribute to this research.

International Migration Review, 2014

Transnational marriages of migrants in Western Europe tend to be seen as hampering integration. In response, policies have been tightened, despite little knowledge on transnational marriages and the effects of such measures. This paper investigates the role of individual preferences and contextual factors such as family reunification policies, group size and development levels of the regions of origin in partner choice of the children of Turkish and Moroccan immigrants. We draw on a novel dataset collected in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden. Our findings suggest that transnational marriages are partly associated with contextual factors such as a rural origin and family reunification policies. The analysis indicates higher rates of transnational marriages under open family reunification policies, providing tentative evidence of policy effects. On the individual level, the choice of a partner from the parents' origin country is associated with religiosity.

Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 2019

This paper provides insight into remarriages amongst Turkish and Moroccan Belgians. Although the issue of remarriage is of particular relevance, given the rising divorce rates that have been observed amongst these groups in recent decades, it remains largely understudied. We examine remarriage rates and patterns of partner choice in second marriages, taking into account partner-choice patterns in first marriages. We analysed data from the Belgian national register, using piecewise constant log-rate event-history analyses with effect coding on all first marriages that ended in divorce between 1 January 2001 and 1 January 2009. In the second phase of the analysis, which focuses on partner choice in the second marriage, we selected only those respondents who had remarried. Our results indicate that the recent transition in marital behaviour (e.g. lower levels of transnational marriage and higher levels of mixed marriages) has not (yet) been replicated in second marriages. Transnational remarriage is by far the most preferred partner choice, especially amongst former marriage migrants. Especially for them, the access to the local marriage market seems to be restricted, steering them towards the transnational marriage market.

The growing importance of marriage as a migration strategy has been accompanied by a problematisation and securitization of marriages between binational couples in media and policy discourse. Moreover, marriage migration has received increased scholarly attention. In this article, we propose an analytical framework for the study of marriage migration and its government that permits to transcend three biases and related blind spots that we identify in the existing literature. While this literature offers rich insights into marriage migration and states’ ever more laboured attempts to control and regulate it, this literature is, nevertheless, characterised by an implementation gap bias, a control bias and, finally, a destination country bias. To address these biases, we propose an analytical framework that is inspired by the autonomy of migration approach. We propose to ethnographically study binational couples’ encounters with marriage migration related authorities in countries of destination and citizenship with a particular focus on binational couples’ struggles for visas, resident permits and a right to family life. Illustrated through ethnographic research, we show that this methodology permits to highlight three aspects of marriage migration that have not been sufficiently considered so far. These include the securitization of marriage migration ‘from below’ through informal practices of government on the ‘street-level’, binational couples’ inherently political border struggles and their capacity to negotiate restrictive legislations and bureaucratic hurdles and, finally, what we call the multiple entanglements of binational couples in the border and citizenship regimes of two or more nation-state orders.