Union Formation and Partner Choice in a Transnational Context: The Case of Descendants of Turkish Immigrants in France

Abstract

This paper examines the transition to a first union of descendants of Turkish immigrants in France. We use data from the project The Integration of the European Second Generation, 2007, and apply event-history techniques. We find that descendants of Turkish immigrants who grew up in France enter a first union earlier and more often in a direct marriage than do young adults without an immigrant background. We then describe the type of union in more detail and estimate the likelihood of a transnational partner choice, that is, between a young adult born in France of Turkish immigrant parentage and an immigrant from Turkey. We pay attention to social factors such as education, city of residence, and to cultural factors such as the rules of affinity in Turkey and the attachment to the norm of virginity at marriage as factors that orient partner choice. Finally, we discuss what anthropological methods could contribute to this research.