Voluntary coercion vs. Real-life Tinder Qualitative study on perception of arranged marriage among second-generation Norwegian-Pakistanis and young Pakistanis who came to Norway relatively recently to study.

Abstract

Abstract The issue of forced marriage and arranged marriage among immigrant communities has been a controversial public discussion in Norway since the early 90s. Most Norwegians will not know the difference between the two when asked, and many researchers point out that it is difficult to draw a clear line between arranged marriage and forced marriage, which implies the differentiation between the two can be somewhat fuzzy. The purpose of this study is to investigate how young Pakistani descendants in Norway actually perceive arranged marriage. This is done though an investigative approach including in-depth interviews with young Pakistani descendants living in Norway. The informants are divided into three groups; relatively younger- and older second-generation Norwegian-Pakistanis and Pakistanis who recently arrived in Norway to study. I investigate the differences and similarities with regards to arranged marriage and gender equality between generations, taking into account differences in cultural background between Pakistanis born and raised in Norway, and their peers from Pakistan. It would be of interest to investigate among Pakistani immigrants who relatively newly migrated to Norway. The perspectives of the first-generation Norwegian-Pakistani and second-generation Norwegian-Pakistanis on arranged marriage have been studied extensively in existing literatures, however, informants on those studies were relatively young and many of them were not at the age where they were looking to get married, thus they more easily expressed their ideals. In addition, even though I could not find any literature regarding the perspectives of those Pakistanis who are relatively newly arrivals to Norway, there may be some studies done from this perspective. However, as I could not find any significant research on this topic, it would be of interest to investigate whether Norwegian egalitarian social norms influence their perspectives with regards to gender equality and marriage. An interesting finding is that all three groups inhabit a different perception on arranged marriage. This indicates differences between generations and that Norwegian-Pakistani communities are changing over time according to Giddens’ theory of modernity. The data also indicates that living in an egalitarian society such as Norway can significantly impact perspectives.