Endogamy versus homogamy: Marital choice among descendants of North African, Sahelian African and Tnrkish immigrants in France

Abstract

Whom do French people of immigrant background choose as life partners? This question has raised new scientific interest in France because integration has been challenged by the endogamy norm. Using data from a 2007 study based on biographical interviews with 93 individuals, this article examines the balance between endogamy and homogamy, leading the authors to develop the concept of 'socio-ethmc homogamy' to account for the combination of cultural, social and gender dimensions that influence the choice of a conjugal partner among the descendants of immigrants. Their socialisation pnor to marriage and their options for a conjugal partner at the time of union formation are being analysed empirically. The ways in which the norms of endogamy are reinterpreted by interviewees as well as the impact of cultural and social factors on the process of marital choice in the immigration society are being discussed in due course.