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Thèse sous la direction de Michel Bozon

The persistance of social homogamy is regularly observed; the tendency to form couples in which the woman occupies a lower position than her partner – female hypergamy – is also well documented: love is far from blind to social distinctions. Yet, it was concluded somewhat too fast from this major result that these phenomena have remained stable over time.This thesis shows, based on large-scale survey data, that education, social class and social class of origin homogamy has significantly weakened over the last forty years in France. This trend goes beyond what changes in the population structure would have implied (relative homogamy): the composition of couples has become closer to a random mating situation.Hypergamy has also clearly diminished, and has even reversed regarding education; females hold higher qualifications than their partners since the year 2000. As a consequence, the higher celibacy rate of women with a high social status, in particular that of the higher educated, which stemmed from their unfavorable position on the conjugal market, has converged to that of other groups.The variations of these two dimensions of partner choice over 64 regions of Europe in the 2000s are also sizable. Educational homogamy is higher than socioeconomic homogamy; hypergamy is the most frequent situation, but it is not an absolutely general pattern. The degree of cultural liberalism and of social openness appears as the strongest determinant of these two phenomena. They are negatively correlated with female labor force participation, but their relationship with economic inequalities is ambiguous.; Le constat d’une persistance de l’homogamie sociale est régulièrement réitéré ; la tendance à former des couples dans lesquels la femme occupe une position inférieure à son conjoint – hypergamie féminine – est elle aussi bien documentée : l’amour est loin d’être aveugle aux distinctions sociales. Pourtant, on a un peu rapidement conclu de ce résultat majeur que ces phénomènes étaient restés stables dans le temps.Cette thèse montre, à l’aide de données de grandes enquêtes, que l’homogamie s’est nettement affaiblie du point de vue du diplôme, de la classe et de l’origine sociales au cours des quarante dernières années en France. Cette évolution va au-delà de ce que l’évolution de la structure de la population implique (homogamie relative) : la composition des couples s’est rapprochée d’une situation de choix au hasard.L’hypergamie s’est elle aussi fortement réduite, et s’est même inversée en termes de diplôme, les femmes étant désormais plus diplômées que leurs conjoints depuis l’an 2000. En conséquence, le surcroît de célibat des femmes au statut social le plus élevé, et notamment des diplômées, qui tenait à leur position défavorable sur le marché conjugal, s’est résorbé.Les variations de ces deux dimensions du choix du conjoint parmi 64 régions d’Europe dans les années 2000 sont notables. L’homogamie d’éducation est plus élevée que l’homogamie socioéconomique ; l’hypergamie est majoritaire, mais n’est pas absolument généralisée. Le degré de libéralisme culturel et d’ouverture sociale apparaît comme le principal déterminant de ces deux phénomènes. Ils sont négativement corrélés au taux d’activité féminine, mais leur lien avec les inégalités économiques est ambigu.

Choosing a partner in agriculture. The French agricultural world has long been characterized as being closed in on itself. This may take the form of a professional closure which leaves little place to new arrivals of diverse social origins, or the form of marital closure with relatively limited choices for the daughters of farmers given the demographic constraints of the countryside. The rise of heterogamy, not only professional (women work more and more outside the farm ) but also social (women come less and less from the agricultural community), challenges this image. This marital opening is not uniform : farmers in the most specialized sectors such as grain cultivation are more inclined to be married to women unconnected to agriculture. These wives will be partners to a family life which does not merge with that of the farm. Farmers in less specialized sectors, like polycultural farming, raising livestock, or those with strong work obligations like milk production, are more likely to marry the daughters of farmers who go on to work with them -in other words, making them collaborators in a family life focused on work, Le monde agricole a longtemps été caractérisé par une relative fermeture sur lui-même. Fermeture professionnelle qui laisse peu de place aux nouveaux entrants d'origines sociales diverses, fermeture conjugale avec un choix relativement circonscrit aux filles d'agriculteur et restreint par la démographie des campagnes. La montée de l'hétérogamie, non seulement professionnelle (les femmes travaillent de plus en plus à l'extérieur de l'exploitation) mais sociale (les femmes sont de moins en moins issues du milieu agricole), remet en question cette image. Cette ouverture conjugale n'est pas uniforme : les agriculteurs des secteurs les plus spécialisés, comme la céréaliculture, sont plus enclins à avoir une conjointe extérieure à l'agriculture ; elle sera la partenaire dans une vie familiale qui ne se confondra pas avec celle de l'exploitation. Dans les secteurs moins spécialisés -comme les systèmes de polyculture-élevage ou dans la production de lait avec un fort travail d'astreinte -ils ont plus tendance à avoir des conjointes filles d'agriculteurs qui travaillent avec eux, bref des collaboratrices dans une vie familiale centrée sur le travail., Giraud Christophe, Rémy Jacques. Les choix des conjoints en agriculture. In: Revue d’études en Agriculture et Environnement, N°88, 2008-3. Actualité de la reproduction des groupes sociaux agricoles en France. pp. 21-46.

Prior to undertaking an investigation of Franco-Iranian marriages, the author attempts to delineate the perspective from which the research will proceed by focusing on the social-cultural context in which the couples must live as well as on the 'cultural distance' which separates the spouses. Given the evolution of family and choice of spouse in Iran — as presented by Iranian sociologists — the Franco-Iranian marriage, though an exception, still exhibits many of the characteristics of the modern Iranian marriage. It is in this light that the integration of this 'mixed' marriage in Iranian society will be observed. Cultural factors in mixed marriages result in a greater degree of cultural heterogamy between the spouses ; but these same factors might also contribute to increasing homogamy in other spheres which have yet to be examined. The author questions the tendency to consider cultural distance only as a generator of conflicts and suggests that it might be the sensitivity to this distance which causes conflict. The study of Franco-Iranian marriages, in the context of the author's research, is also aimed at shedding some light on the adaptation of French women to a feminine condition different from that for which they have been prepared and at a better understanding of their position as cultural vectors in a foreign setting, as well as the poten¬ tial of this role. As a Franco-Iranian marriage is first and foremost a marriage, its study should also further the understanding of the couple., Parmentier Elisabeth. Les mariages franco-américains en France [French-American marriages in France]. In: Ethnies, volume 4, 1974. Les mariages mixtes. pp. 75-90.

Are there any criteria which allow marriages to be definitively classified as mixed ? Simply counting every possible variable would be interminable and fallacious and would lead to the definition of all marriages as mixed, confounding heterogamy and mixedness. It is not the existence of a difference — whatever that difference may be — that defines mixedness but the existence of an endogamous social group which operates according to a social definition of 'difference' and accepts the notion of interdict. Mixed marriage is then the union between two people who should not have married. Their marriage infringes upon principles considered as important for the survival and cohesion of the group. The authors consider problems arising in the study of mixed couples in the light of the following : — Under what conditions may mixed marriage be considered pathological ; — to what extent are the effects of the social definition of difference subject to varia¬ tions according to feelings of membership ; — at what level does the notion of social status come in ; — what are the problems which cultural duality entails for the socialization of the couples and their children., Bensimon Doris, Lautman Françoise. Quelques aspects théoriques des recherches concernant les mariages mixtes [Some theorical aspects of research about mixed marriages]. In: Ethnies, volume 4, 1974. Les mariages mixtes. pp. 17-39.