Migration, Marital Instability and Divorce among British Asians: Transnationalism, Changing Conjugalities and Legal Pluralism

长期以来，英国的南亚裔人口一直被描述为代表着“老式”家庭，离婚率特别低，这与更广泛的人口形成了鲜明对比。这种在家庭实践中的保守主义被归功于对传统的忠诚，而强大的家庭价值观一直是英国亚裔社区自我认同的核心。然而，有迹象表明，亚裔英国人的婚姻不稳定和离婚率有上升的趋势。这一趋势也已成为这些社区关注的话题，例如，宗教组织越来越多地提供婚姻咨询和家庭调解。最近，人们强烈呼吁在这一领域进行实证研究。2001年人口普查的数据显示，英国亚裔人口中的单亲父母和离婚率正在上升。为了提供解决这些问题所需的详细和背景信息，我建议对两个英国亚洲群体：巴基斯坦穆斯林和旁遮普锡克教徒进行人种学研究，因为他们有一些共同点，也有一些不同之处。双方都有相当大比例的人嫁给了来自海外的伴侣。他们在英国的移民历史和整体社会经济地位不同。总体而言，旁遮普锡克教徒比巴基斯坦穆斯林过得更好，有更多的女性从事有偿工作，代际间的社会流动性更大。他们的婚姻模式也不同。虽然许多巴基斯坦穆斯林家庭倾向于在亲族内部结婚，但旁遮普锡克教徒传统上是在大家庭之外结婚。然而，这些概括忽略了种姓的区别，这会导致经济和社会文化背景，并对婚姻破裂产生不同的影响。社会变化和婚姻实践中的代际谈判也被忽视了，而婚姻抱负、婚姻期望和保持不满意婚姻的意愿可能发生了快速变化。这个项目将探索这种差异在多大程度上影响婚姻不稳定的模式和过程，或者是不是阶级、性别权力和人生阶段等因素更重要。跨国婚姻的影响将是比较的中心焦点。一些评论人士认为，这种做法强化了保守主义。其他人认为这是婚姻不和的潜在原因，因为配偶之间的不相容或对婚姻的不同期望导致了两个大陆的分离。因此，该项目将探索涉及移民的婚姻是否具有与在英国缔结的婚姻不同的冲突和离婚经历。移民配偶的性别在遇到的问题的性质和离婚的可能性上也可能是重要的。最后，这两种宗教对待离婚的方式也不同。伊斯兰婚姻和离婚可以独立于民事程序进行，这造成了婚姻状况的复杂性，并有可能通过一夫多妻制正式承认多重伴侣关系。锡克教并不正式承认离婚，尽管在英国，民事离婚和延长分居的情况时有发生。此外，英国家庭法和英国政府的其他部门(包括福利、指导和调解服务以及避难所)如何对待这些区别还有额外的复杂性。我将根据对巴基斯坦穆斯林和旁遮普锡克教徒夫妇的反复采访来分析这些动态，这些夫妇正在经历或在过去三年内经历过离婚。随着时间的推移，多次采访的目的是为了了解伴侣的“动机修辞”是如何演变的，并允许逐步建立信任，以及进行长期人种学观察的可能性。

South Asian populations in Britain have long been described as representing the 'old-fashioned' family with, in particular, low rates of divorce in contrast to the wider population. This conservatism in family practices has been credited to loyalty to tradition, and strong family values have been central to the self-identity of British Asian communities. However, there are signs of a trend towards increasing marital instability and divorce among British Asians. This trend has also become a topic of concern within these communities, witnessed by increasing numbers of marriage counselling and family mediation by religious organisations, for instance.There have recently been strong calls for empirical studies in this area. Data from the 2001 census suggests that rates of single parenthood and divorce among British Asian populations are on the rise. However, the statistics do not offer insights into the underlying dynamics.To provide the detailed and contextualised information required to address these issues, I propose ethnographic research with two British Asian groups: Pakistani Muslims and Punjabi Sikhs, relevant because they share some features and differ in others. A significant proportion of both marry partners from overseas. They differ in migration histories and overall socio-economic position in Britain. On the whole, Punjabi Sikhs are better off than Pakistani Muslims, with more women in paid employment and greater inter-generational social mobility. They also differ in marriage patterns. Whilst many Pakistani Muslim families have preferred marriage within the kin group, Punjabi Sikhs have traditionally married outside the extended family. However, these generalisations overlook distinctions by caste, which give rise to economic and socio-cultural contexts with different implications for marital breakdown. Social change and intergenerational negotiations in marriage practices are also overlooked, whilst there are likely to have been rapid changes in marital ambitions, conjugal expectations and willingness to remain in an unsatisfactory union. This project will explore the extent to which such differences inflect patterns and processes of marital instability, or whether factors such as class, gendered power and life stage are more significant. The impact of transnational marriage will be a central focus of comparison. Some commentators view the practice as reinforcing conservatism. Others see it as a potential cause of marital discord because of incompatibility or differing expectations of marriage among spouses raised continents apart. This project will therefore explore whether marriages involving migration are characterised by different experiences of conflict and divorce to those contracted in Britain. The gender of the migrant spouse may also be significant in the nature of problems encountered, and in the likelihood of divorce.Finally, the two religions also treat divorce differently. Islamic marriage and divorce can occur independently of civil procedures, creating complexity in marital status and the possibility of multiple partnerships being formally recognised through polygamy. Sikhism does not formally recognise divorce, although civil divorce and extended separation occur in practice in Britain. Moreover, there are additional complexities in how these distinctions are treated by British family law and by other arms of the British state including welfare, guidance and mediation services, and refuges.I will analyse these dynamics on the basis of repeated interviews with Pakistani Muslim and Punjabi Sikh couples who are going through, or have experienced divorce within the last three years. Multiple interviews over time are intended to gain a sense of how the partners' 'rhetoric of motives' evolve, and allow for a gradual building of trust, and possibilities for long-term ethnographic observation.