@techreport{fdi:010091696,
  title = {{F}or money can't buy me love ? : the political economy of marriages over two decades in {T}amil {N}adu, {S}outh {I}ndia},
  author = {{G}u{\'e}rin, {I}sabelle and {N}atal, {A}. and {N}ordman, {C}hristophe and {V}enkatasubramanian, {G}.},
  editor = {},
  language = {{ENG}},
  abstract = {{T}his article explores the multifaceted role of marriages in central {T}amil {N}adu, {I}ndia. {B}y 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. {O}ur data suggest five main findings. {F}irstly, marriage has undergone significant changes, with fewer cross-cousin marriages and more dowry practices in exogamous unions. {F}amilies prefer to marry within similar social circles. {S}econdly, 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. {T}hirdly, 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. {F}ourthly, the analysis of determinants of ceremonial gifts points to the same direction, suggesting participants' solidarity with parents who invest in their children's education. {L}astly, 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 = {{INDE} ; {TAMIL} {NADU}},
  address = {{P}aris},
  publisher = {{IRD}},
  series = {{D}ocument de {T}ravail - {DIAL}},
  pages = {29  multigr.},
  year = {2024},
  URL = {https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010091696},
}