For Money Can’t Buy Me Love? The Political Economy of Marriages Over Two Decades in Tamil Nadu, South India

Isabelle Guérin, Arnaud Natal, Christophe Nordman and Govindan Venkatasubramanian ()
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Govindan Venkatasubramanian: IFP (Pondicherry, India)

No DT/2024/07, Working Papers from DIAL (Développement, Institutions et Mondialisation)

Abstract: This article explores the multifaceted role of marriages in central Tamil Nadu, India. By drawing on twenty years of ethnographic surveys and three household surveys conducted in 2010, 2016-17, and 2020- 21, this paper examines how marriages are both shaped by and constitutive of local political economies. Our data suggest five main findings. Firstly, marriage has undergone significant changes, with fewer cross-cousin marriages and more dowry practices in exogamous unions. Families prefer to marry within similar social circles. Secondly, dowry, once a tradition, now serves to prevent further land fragmentation and symbolises wealth transfer, despite legal reforms aiming at gender equality paradoxically reinforcing dowry traditions. Thirdly, the dowry received by boys depends on the parents’ education expenditures, as if the bride’s parents are somehow sharing in the effort of education. Fourthly, the analysis of determinants of ceremonial gifts points to the same direction, suggesting participants’ solidarity with parents who invest in their children’s education. Lastly, our data reveal, among other things, the role of education in the marriage market, pushing some highly educated men into celibacy while waiting for the ideal partner.

Keywords: Marriage; kinship; dowry; ceremonial gifts; celibacy; economy; Tamil Nadu (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D13 J12 J16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 29 pages
Date: 2024-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his
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Working Paper: For money can't buy me love ?: the political economy of marriages over two decades in Tamil Nadu, South India (2024)
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