Suzana KOELET &
Helga DE VALK
2010-2013
Abstract:
This European project examines trends since 1980 in the proportions of binational marriages between citizens of European Union countries. It pays special attention to the nationalities of those entering these marriages. The goal of the demographic analysis is to assess to what extent the European single market has contributed to an increase in binational marriages. It also attempts to determine to what extent changes in the proportion of binational marriages and the distribution of these marriages by nationality are driven by market processes (e.g. greater intra-European migration) and by social and cultural processes (e.g. affinity between citizens of specific nationalities). In addition, the project will examine to what extent being part of a binational marriage is associated with different orientations to European integration, a lowered sense of membership in the national community of origin, a stronger sense of belonging to Europe, and different lifestyles and worldviews.
The project includes 4 countries: Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. Each of these countries has a sizable population of citizens from other EU member states and it is therefore legitimate to ask what changes the single market has brought to the national composition of marriages taking place in these countries and to the identities of the partners to these marriages. The leading members of the participant teams in the project come from the fields of Demography, Sociology, and Political Science.
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