This legal comparative study explores the nature and development of rabbinic thought on intermarriage. One could hardly phrase the query that lies at the heart of this work better than the Talmud itself: "Is she forbidden or permitted?" (bSanhedrin 82a). This challenge, posed to Moses as part of an exegetical exploration of the problem of intermarriage, asks so much more than whether an Israelite might marry a Gentile. It points to conflicts between biblical law and narrative, biblical and rabbinic law, as well as incompatibilities within rabbinic halakhah. The issues of status, national identity and gender loom large as the various legal and narrative sources on intermarriage are set on an hermeneutic collision course. In this way many rabbinic sources display a deep understanding of the complexity inherent to any discussion of intermarriage in rabbinic tradition. Considering intermarriage as a construct that lies at the intersection between identity and marital rules, we begin this study of rabbinic legal systems with an analysis of the notion of intramarriage and Jewish identity in halakhah as expressed through the system of the asarah yuchasin (ten lineages). Discussion of various systems dealing with intermarriage follows, including qiddushin (Jewish betrothal/marriage) and the status of the offspring of intermarriage, the concept of the qahal (congregation of God), the arayot (levitical incest laws) as well as the individual legal rules related to marriage and sexual relations between Jews and Gentiles. The role of narrative in the representation of case law and rabbinic engagement with these legal systems forms an integral part of our analysis of the law. The overall conclusion of the dissertation is that rabbinic approaches to intermarriage were characterized by multiplicity and diversity. Rabbinic tradition engaged with the issue of intermarriage through a wide variety of often unrelated and incompatible legal systems. Furthermore, it is apparent that conflicting attitudes towards the interpretation and implementation of these rules are represented in both tannaitic (c. 70-200 C.E.) and amoraic sources (c. 200-500 C.E.), such that several key problems related to intermarriage in early rabbinic tradition remain unresolved.

Rates of black-white intermarriage in the United States have increased over the last sixty years, yet they remain at levels below other types of interracial/interethnic unions. Prior research has centered largely on individual-level factors associated with the formation of such unions, culminating in three not entirely consistent micro-level theories: status-caste exchange, status homogamy, and educational/economic success. Most of this literature does not consider contextual-level characteristics, which I argue should have an independent effect on the incidence of these unions. My dissertation explores these issues with microlevel and multilevel models using data from the 2006 American Community Survey. I examine both micro and macro level predictors of the odds of white women marrying black men, and black women marrying white men in the metropolitan areas of the U.S. in 2006. In my level one analyses, six logistic regression equations are estimated to test the efficacy of the abovementioned microlevel theories of interracial marriage for black and white women. Status-caste exchange theory is accorded no support from my investigation, and status homogamy theory receives inconsistent support for white women. The results clearly convey that educational/economic success theory is applicable for predicting intermarriage among white and black metropolitan women in the United States. Among white women, those with high occupational status and high annual income are more likely to be intermarried than those with low occupational status and lower income. Among black metropolitan women, those with high occupational status and high levels of education are more likely to be intermarried than those with low occupational status and low levels of education. In my multilevel analyses, four hierarchical generalized linear models are estimated to evaluate the likelihood of intermarriage for white and black women living in metropolitan areas in the United States. My results show that context matters in predicting and understanding intermarriage for both groups of women. Both the individual-level characteristics of the women, as well as the contextual-level characteristics of their metropolitan areas, were shown in my equations to impact their likelihood of being intermarried. Future research would benefit from the inclusion of social context in any consideration of intermarriage, particularly through the use of multilevel modeling, which until now, has not been utilized by researchers in this area.

published_or_final_version / Sociology / Master / Master of Philosophy

The identities of mixed Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal descendents in British Columbia is as varied as it is complex. In this paper I examine what caused some people of mixed Native and non-Native ancestry not to identify as Aboriginal while others did. The point of fracture for those who identify with their Aboriginal origins and those who do not can be traced to a specific time in our history. More importantly, specific variables were instrumental in causing that divergence of identity, spurred by a pervasive social stigma in colonial society. For many of mixed ancestry, the disassociation from their Aboriginal identity led to generations of silence and denial and eventually to a 'complete disappearance of race'. It was a deliberate breeding out of cultural identity through assimilative ideology and actions in order to conform to European norms. Determining what factors caused this divergence of identity for mixed-descendents entails considering why many Aboriginal women married non-Native partners in B.C. during the mid-19th century, how intermarriage affected identity formation for offspring, and what the multi-generational effects have been on the identities of mixed descendents. Today, this leaves a dilemma for those in-between who are eligible for status, and for those who are not but who choose to reconnect with, acknowledge and learn more of their ancestry. Both assertions of First Nations identity and choices to reconnect with a First Nations heritage while maintaining a non-Native identity, challenge the assumed inevitability of assimilation, and the federal government's continuing reluctance to understand the cultural significance of identification as 'Indian'.

The identities of mixed Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal descendents in British Columbia is as varied as it is complex. In this paper I examine what caused some people of mixed Native and non-Native ancestry not to identify as Aboriginal while others did. The point of fracture for those who identify with their Aboriginal origins and those who do not can be traced to a specific time in our history. More importantly, specific variables were instrumental in causing that divergence of identity, spurred by a pervasive social stigma in colonial society. For many of mixed ancestry, the disassociation from their Aboriginal identity led to generations of silence and denial and eventually to a 'complete disappearance of race'. It was a deliberate breeding out of cultural identity through assimilative ideology and actions in order to conform to European norms. Determining what factors caused this divergence of identity for mixed-descendents entails considering why many Aboriginal women married non-Native partners in B.C. during the mid-19th century, how intermarriage affected identity formation for offspring, and what the multi-generational effects have been on the identities of mixed descendents. Today, this leaves a dilemma for those in-between who are eligible for status, and for those who are not but who choose to reconnect with, acknowledge and learn more of their ancestry. Both assertions of First Nations identity and choices to reconnect with a First Nations heritage while maintaining a non-Native identity, challenge the assumed inevitability of assimilation, and the federal government's continuing reluctance to understand the cultural significance of identification as 'Indian'.

This is a qualitative sociolinguistic study that investigates the parental experiences of bilingual child-rearing for linguistically intermarried couples in Japan. In particular, it focuses on the role of native English-speaking fathers. Through the incorporation of questionnaire, logbook, and in-depth interview data, the study presents eight unique and richly-nuanced cases of language contact in the family domain. The thesis builds on influential works that have both questioned the ease with which children acquire two languages (Yamamoto, 2001b) and highlighted bilingual child-rearing as an emotionally draining and labour-intensive pursuit (Okita, 2002). In accordance with recent suggestions to more readily acknowledge the socio-political dimensions of bilingualism (e.g. Heller, 2007, p. 1; Myers-Scotton, 2006; Li Wei, 2008, p. 17), this study shows bilingual child-rearing to be an innately political phenomenon. The study supports the supposition that the individual circumstances of linguistically intermarried couples rarely align neatly with the prescriptive advice found in much of the popular literature on how to raise children in two (or more) languages (Piller, 2001b). In particular, abstractions of power and discursively constructed identities are shown to structure both the specific language choices and the broader parental practices of the couples in this study. For linguistically intermarried couples, bilingual child-rearing is shown to be a fluid process of negotiation, whereby language choices and decisions about transmission strategies are tied to social positioning of both self and other. Drawing from a broader literature pertaining to the social psychology of parenting, this thesis also proposes a model to analyse the ecological context of bilingual child-rearing. The linguistic behaviours of the parents, as well as their decisions concerning family language planning are shown to emerge from each family’s unique and fluctuating set of social circumstances. These include, but are not limited to, the quality of the spousal relationship, the family’s economic resources, (shifting) cultural affiliations of all family members, future plans, minority language contact opportunities, the medium of instruction at the child’s school, the needs and wishes of extended family members, as well as the agency of the child.

Thesis (J.C.D.)--Catholic University of America, 1934. / "Biographical note." "Table of cases": p. 134-135; Bibliography: p. 141-144.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 59-67).

The identities of mixed Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal descendents in British Columbia is as varied as it is complex. In this paper I examine what caused some people of mixed Native and non-Native ancestry not to identify as Aboriginal while others did. The point of fracture for those who identify with their Aboriginal origins and those who do not can be traced to a specific time in our history. More importantly, specific variables were instrumental in causing that divergence of identity, spurred by a pervasive social stigma in colonial society. For many of mixed ancestry, the disassociation from their Aboriginal identity led to generations of silence and denial and eventually to a 'complete disappearance of race'. It was a deliberate breeding out of cultural identity through assimilative ideology and actions in order to conform to European norms. Determining what factors caused this divergence of identity for mixed-descendents entails considering why many Aboriginal women married non-Native partners in B.C. during the mid-19th century, how intermarriage affected identity formation for offspring, and what the multi-generational effects have been on the identities of mixed descendents. Today, this leaves a dilemma for those in-between who are eligible for status, and for those who are not but who choose to reconnect with, acknowledge and learn more of their ancestry. Both assertions of First Nations identity and choices to reconnect with a First Nations heritage while maintaining a non-Native identity, challenge the assumed inevitability of assimilation, and the federal government's continuing reluctance to understand the cultural significance of identification as 'Indian'. / Arts, Faculty of / Anthropology, Department of / Graduate

This is a study of how certain cultural differences between Japanese and Americans might be problematic in Japanese/American intercultural marriage.