Mixed Marriage Patterns in Istanbul: Gendering Ethno-Religious Boundaries

Abstract

This study focuses on the mixed marriages between individuals from Rum Orthodox, Jewish, and Armenian communities with Muslims, who are legally regarded as ethnic-religious minorities and clustered in the urban geography of Istanbul with the ever-decreasing population. Little attention has been paid into the private sphere dynamics and practices of non-Muslims of Turkey. Hence, this research will try to understand the identity construction of Rum, Jewish, and Armenian communities in the private sphere within the context of mixed marriages. Particularly the gendered structure of the ethno-religious boundaries drawn between the minorities and the wider society are problematised. The chapter benefits from 51 in-depth interviews conducted between 2018 and 2019 with the members of Rum Orthodox, Jewish, and Armenian communities from different social class, age, and gender, who are residing in Istanbul. The data collected through this fieldwork will be presented in the light of the debate in the family and marriage, gender, and minority literature. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.