The arranged transnational cousin marriages of British Pakistanis: critique, dissent and cultural continuity

Links with kin 'back home' have been central to Pakistani migration and settlement in Britain. Fifty years since the first phase of migration began, these links are maintained and re-created most centrally through the common practice of arranged transnational marriage, mostly involving first cousins. This paper outlines and comments on several strands of critique of this social trend. It describes how arranged transnational cousin marriage has become a key symbol of cultural difference within Britain, where it is linked with discourses of cultural, social and biological harm. Drawing on recent fieldwork with couples of Punjabi and Pakistan-administered Kashmiri family origins in transnational marriages, the paper provides a commentary on these critiques. The paper reveals the complexity of motivations behind transnational marriage choices, and suggests that, despite the current critiques, the balance of risks continues to favour this dynamic and increasingly negotiated social practice.