Pre-marital Relationships and the Family in Modern India

Bibliographic Data

ID2634827
AuthorsParul Bhandari (0009-0005-8603-8062, Centre for Social Sciences and Humanities, corresponding author)
Year2017
Volume16
Issue16
Publication date2017-09-14
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSouth Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1960-6060 • E-ISSN: 1960-6060
PublisherOpenEdition (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.4000/samaj.4379
OpenAlexW2755058907
LanguageEN
Citations received13
References cited33

This paper is an inquiry into a form of intimate relationship that is garnering much public attention in contemporary India, namely, the pre-marital relationship. In order to query the rhetoric of individual agency and “freedom” that often gets associated with pre-marital relationships, this paper explores the family’s involvement in pre-marital relationships of young adults aged 24–31. The paper argues that though pre-marital relationships often fashion themselves as a disjuncture from the narrative of marriage, in reality, they model themselves on structures and expectations of a marital union. This paper also pays attention to the ways in which families position themselves vis-à-vis pre-marital relationships. Specifically, it discusses the strategies by which the family can obstruct or encourage certain pre-marital relationships over others, thereby highlighting the bearing of the family’s involvement in changing the course of a relationship: either from a non-serious form of relationship to a committed one, or leading to the breaking up of the relationship

Business · Human sexuality · Marital relationship · Narrative · Political science · Sexual relationship · Social science · Sociology · Asian Studies and History · Demographic Trends and Gender Preferences · Gender Studies · Intergenerational Family Dynamics and Caregiving · Psychology · Social Psychology

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