Arranged Marriage: The Politics of Tradition, Resistance, and Change shows how arranged marriage practices have been undergoing transformation as a result of global and other processes such as the revolution of digital technology, democratization of transnational mobility, or shifting significance of patriarchal power structures. The ethnographically informed chapters not only highlight how the gendered and intergenerational politics of agency, autonomy, choice, consent, and intimacy work in the contexts of partner choice and management of marriage, but also point out that arranged marriages are increasingly varied and they can be reshaped, reinvented, and reinterpreted flexibly in response to individual, family, religious, class, ethnic, and other desires, needs, and constraints. The authors convincingly demonstrate that a nuanced investigation of the reasons, complex dynamics, and consequences of arranged marriages offers a refreshing analytical lens that can significantly contribute to a deeper understanding of other phenomena such as globalization, modernization, and international migration as well as patriarchal value regimes, intergenerational power imbalances, and gendered subordination and vulnerability of women.

The main topic of this book is arranged marriage. So it is self explanatory to indicate what this book is about. There is quite a bit of doubt and confusion in the west; how the people in India get married through arranged marriage system without seeing or knowing the spouse. The arranged marriage is a contract of co-existence for life signed in the presence of the guardians of faith, guardians and guarantors of contract and well wishers. We take marriage for granted without knowing the intricacies of married life. It is not so. To stay married is the highest priority of life. It is much higher than signing a contract to get a job and make money and even obeying the faith values, because the faith can be achieved through values and love of married life. In arranged marriage the necessities of life are taken into consideration not the enjoyment for a few days. It is a contract signed in good faith. The acceptance of the spouse is the most important factor for the marriage to last forever. This factor is drilled into the couple by the elders to realize the requirements of the spouse. Realizing and fulfilling those requirements makes the marriage last forever. There are some other short stories in the book. Most of those stories are true but some are imaginary as well. So read it and find out what the writer is trying to convey and justify.

This book explores the contemporary phenomenon of forced marriage and 'honour' killings in Britain. Set against a background of increasing 'honour'-based violence within the country's South Asian and Muslim Diasporas, the book traces the development of the 'honour' question over the past two decades. It accordingly witnesses unprecedented changes in public awareness and government policy including ground-breaking 'honour'-specific legislation and the criminalisation of forced marriage. All of which makes Britain an important context for the study of this now indigenous and self-perpetuating social problem. In considering the scale of the challenge and its underlying causes, attention is paid to the intersections of gendered power structures that disadvantage female members of 'honour' cultures as well as feminist theories that seek to explain them. The book features five key case-studies of 'honour' killings and draws from a wide range of narratives including those of 'honour' violence survivors, grassroots service providers and legislators. Such myriad of perspectives reveals the complexity of the 'honour' issue and the deep ideological divisions that characterise it. With the UK's multiculturalist discourse unable to reconcile protecting patriarchal minority cultures with safeguarding gender equality and human rights, the book raises fundamental questions about the country's future direction. Following a long trend of state-sponsored integrationist policies, the government's response to the 'honour' question points decisively in the direction of a post-multicultural British nation.

Forced Marriage: Introducing a social justice and human rights perspective brings together leading practitioners and researchers from the disciplines of criminology, sociology and law. Together the contributors provide an international, multi-disciplinary perspective that offers a compelling alternative to prevailing conceptualisations of the problem of forced marriage. The volume examines advances in theoretical debates, analyses existing research and presents new evidence that challenges the cultural essentialism that often characterises efforts to explain, and even justify, this violation of women's rights. By locating forced marriage within broader debates on violence against women, social justice and human rights, the authors offer an intersectional perspective that can be used to inform both theory and practical efforts to address violence against diverse groups of women. This unique book, which is informed by practitioner insights and academic research, is essential reading for practitioners and students of sociology, criminology, gender studies and law.

Forced marriage is a serious abuse of human rights that involves physical torture and/or emotional blackmail by family. It is not merely an issue in the UK. It is an international issue comes along with other problems such as domestic violence, inequality and poverty. It can affect particular population globally and locally. In the UK, hundreds of people, particularly girls and young women are forced into marriage each year. Studies found that victims can be as young as 9 years old to older as 35 and over. South Asian communities are the largest ethnic minority group in the UK. In addition, there have historically been very articulate and powerful South Asian feminist groups that have challenged gender related issues within these communities, including forced marriage, honour related violence and dowry related violence (Caroll, 1998; Gangoli et al., 2006). As a result, there has been much focus on Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Indian communities and therefore a wider recognition of the issue of forced marriage. However, it is also important to recognise here that a wide range of other minority ethnic, religious as well as majority communities are also involved, including African, Middle Eastern, Latin American and Eastern Europeans (Chantler, Gangoli & Hester, 2009). This study addresses the international and cross-cultural dimensions of a social problem. It mainly focused on British Bangladeshi community to know the circumstances of forced marriage in general and then evaluated the existing social work services in the UK. The main interest of the study was in the statements of particular groups of people including their personal views, perceptions and experiences on forced marriage.

Provides timely comparative analysis from internationally known contributors.

This volume occasions a dialogue between major authors in the field who engage in a conversation on cosmopolitanism and provinciality from a communication ethics perspective. There is no consensus on what constitutes communication ethics, cosmopolitanism, or provinciality: the task is more modest and diverse and began with contributors being asked what the bias of their work suggests or offers for understanding the theme Communication Ethics: Between Cosmopolitanism and Provinciality. Rather than responding authoritatively, each essay acknowledges the contributor's own work. This book offers no answers, but invites a conversation that is more akin to a beginning, a joining, an admission that there is more than «me», «us», or «my kind» of people, theory, or wisdom. The book will be an excellent resource for instructors and for upper-level undergraduate and graduate courses in communication.