Inter-caste Marriage in Conflict Settings: War, Displacement, and Social Conditions in Cross-caste Kinship Formations in Jaffna, Northern SriLanka

Abstract

The war and subsequent displacements changed the social and spatial practices around caste, which resulted in an increase in inter-caste marriages, which had been taboo before. This unintentional rebellion was mounted to the very core of caste through these inter-caste marriages. However, the new caste practices and performances that now revolved around these new inter-caste kin networks continued to reproduce old hierarchies, even as it created space for change. This study highlights how various determining factors such as repeated displacement of families, the close geographic proximity resulting from inevitable cross-caste interactions, love and intimate relationship, the safeguard different caste individuals extended to each other during the periods of crisis and emergency and socioeconomic advancements have together contributed to the steady growth of inter-caste interaction and marriages and have over-ridden caste taboos. This study mainly focuses on two areas namely Puṅgudutīvu and Mallākam in Jaffna, Northern Sri Lanka, where 116 inter-caste marriages were recorded and three were taken for a detailed case study.