Brideprice's Relationship to Conflict, Class, and Violence against Women

Abstract

Abstract Emerging research shows how brideprice facilitates conflict, as young men who cannot afford brideprice join armed groups. This article provides additional evidence for the role of brideprice in conflict, and shows how it facilitates three kinds of conflict: class conflict, interpersonal violence, and violence against women. In distinction to current approaches, this paper argues that brideprice's market logics are better conceived of as structured by gender and class inequality. Brideprice displays socioeconomic status and transfers wealth from poor to rich. Using ethnographic fieldwork undertaken in Timor-Leste, this article demonstrates that brideprice perpetuates socioeconomic inequality underpinning the Timorese class system. Recognizing the role of brideprice supports a clearer understanding of the continuum between conflict and violence.