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The globalisation of love? Examining narratives of intimacy and marriage among middle-class Gujarati Indians in the UK and India

Twamley, K; (2013) The globalisation of love? Examining narratives of intimacy and marriage among middle-class Gujarati Indians in the UK and India. Family, Relationships and Societies , 2 (2) pp. 267-283. 10.1332/204674313X664923. Green open access

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Abstract

Recent research suggests that global ideologies of love are shaping marriage practices the world over. In this article I compare the narratives of young (20- to 30-year-old), middle-class Gujarati Indians in the United Kingdom (UK) and India, to examine how these ideals are lived out in two very different contexts. In India, heterosexual monogamous marriage arranged with parental consent emerged as the only legitimate modern form of intimate relations due to a complex conjunction of romantic ideologies and 'traditional' familial marriage preferences. In the UK, participants distanced themselves from any sense of 'arrangement' in their relationships, which seemed to call into question for them the veracity of their love. The social context of the UK both supports and facilitates self-selected 'love marriage' among young people, while the converse is true in India. Global ideologies of romantic love are pervasive, but they are interpreted by individuals within local understandings of appropriate marriage and relationships.

Type: Article
Title: The globalisation of love? Examining narratives of intimacy and marriage among middle-class Gujarati Indians in the UK and India
Location: UK
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1332/204674313X664923
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1332/204674313X664923
Language: English
Additional information: This is a post-peer-review, pre-copy edited version of an article published in Families, Relationships and Societies. The definitive publisher-authenticated version, Twamley, K; (2013) The globalisation of love? Examining narratives of intimacy and marriage among middle-class Gujarati Indians in the UK and India. Family, Relationships and Societies, 2 (2) pp. 267-283, is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1332/204674313X664923
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Social Research Institute
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1475560
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