Mixed Marriage in Comparative Perspective: Gender and Power in Northern Ireland and Pakistanxyf

Abstract

By comparing the attitudes and responses to religious intermarriage in Northern Ireland and Pakistan this paper seeks to uncover some of the less obvious reasons for the hostility shown to such marriages. Although viewed negatively in both places, intermarriage provokes greater antagonism in Northern Ireland than in Pakistan. While this is closely related to the different political circumstances of the two countries, it is also related to the way that men and women are perceived in each rlace and to the power which they are thought Lo exercise in different contexts. In some cases intermarriage becomes a political issue and the paper looks at the consequences which this has for how we conceptualise the relationship between domestic and public domains.