Strengthening the inner circle: the marriage networks of elite families in Joseon Korea

ABSTRACT

Socioeconomic homogamy is a prominent process for reproducing the social structure in preindustrial societies including East Asian countries. Although Joseon Korea was a centralized bureaucratic state under a king, the stratification system was unique by its ambiguity such that the previlege of an upper class was not officially confirmed. Since the social status was rather conferred by the reputation of the family, the quality of marriage relation was important for a man to be ranked as a central official. In this paper, we investigate patterns of social homogamy among elite families in the early Joseon Korea through empirical evidence of the relationship between official rank and spousal family background. We created a novel dataset by compiling the marriage network and official rank information of 14,508 individuals from the jokbos (族譜, genealogy) of 15 elite families and conduct an ordinal logit regression analysis to investigate whether spousal family background increases the probability of an individual being promoted in the bureaucracy. We find that the socio-political power of affinal kin has a greater effect on promotions than the descent and meritocratic effects. Particularly, the empirical evidence shows that marrying into a queen consort’s family increased the likelihood of an individual being ranked in a high position, which was beneficial for retaining the political power of him and the family. The study shows that marriage as a means of managing the socio-political inner circle of elite families, shaping the elites’ socio-political inner circle, built on the marriage network around a queen consort’s family to benefit the royal authority and the elite group.     

马克思恩格斯婚姻家庭规范思想初探

马克思恩格斯的婚姻家庭规范思想建立在科学的唯物史观的理论基础之上,认为婚姻家庭规范与社会经济发展相适应,它们会随着社会经济结构的变化而变化。婚姻家庭规范的制订以尊重自然规律和社会规律为前提,同时又体现出人的主观意志。资本主义社会的婚姻家庭规范是对婚姻自由的桎梏,而社会主义公有制的经济之下的婚姻家庭规范才是真正体现和保障婚姻自由的合理的好的规范。     

ADOLESCENT VIOLENT VICTIMIZATION AND PRECOCIOUS UNION FORMATION*

This article bridges scholarship in criminology and family sociology by extending arguments about “precocious exits” from adolescence to consider early union formation as a salient outcome of violent victimization for youths. Research indicates that early union formation is associated with several negative outcomes; yet the absence of attention to union formation as a consequence of violent victimization is noteworthy. We address this gap by drawing on life course theory and data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) to examine the effect of violent victimization (“street” violence) on the timing of first coresidential union formation—differentiating between marriage and cohabitation—in young adulthood. Estimates from Cox proportional hazard models show that adolescent victims of street violence experience higher rates of first union formation, especially marriage, early in the transition to adulthood; however, this effect declines with age, as such unions become more normative. Importantly, the effect of violent victimization on first union timing is robust to controls for nonviolent delinquency, substance abuse, and violent perpetration. We conclude by discussing directions for future research on the association between violent victimization and coresidential unions with an eye toward the implications of such early union formation for desistance.     

SAME SEX,DIFFERENT RIGHTS: AMENDING U.S. IMMIGRATION LAW TO RECOGNIZE SAME‐SEX PARTNERS OF REFUGEES AND ASYLEES

Overcoming a long history of anti‐gay sentiment preserved in federal immigration law, the United States has made admirable advances during the past two decades in the protection it affords gay immigrants. Despite this promising progress, and in contrast to the practices of all other industrialized democracies, the United States remains firm in its refusal to federally recognize any form of same‐sex partnership, a decision which bears directly on those relationships considered valid for immigration purposes. The Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) represents the closest any proposed legislation has come to successfully granting immigration rights to gay immigrants. However, through its restrictive provisions, the UAFA fails to fully account for the needs of refugees, asylees, and their same‐sex partners. This Note argues that, while the UAFA is a step in the right direction, it does not go far enough to protect gay refugees and asylees. It further proposes that legislation be enacted which provides this unique segment of the immigrant population the opportunity to share their lives together, free from fear of persecution. It advocates for the use of the conjugal partner provision set out in Canada's Immigration and Refugee Protection Act as a template for changes to U.S. immigration law, thereby expanding the category of relationships viewed as valid for the purpose of immigration.     

农村女性婚姻迁移者社区融合的基本状况及影响因素探析--基于1011名调查对象数据的实证分析

使用自行编制的“农村女性婚姻迁移者社区融合调查问卷”对1011名农村女性婚姻迁移者进行测量的数据分析结果显示，农村女性婚姻迁移者的社区融合没有达到较好水平；影响农村女性婚姻迁移者心理融合的因素呈现多样性，目前是否在工作、房子类型、公婆是否同意外娶、婚龄、城乡、是否适应迁入地自然环境、是否了解丈夫家庭、迁移是否有遗憾、是否考虑到迁移困难、是否有困难、面对困难是否积极、回娘家情况、娘家人来婆家情况、迁入地是否有朋友等因素对农村女性婚姻迁移者社区融合有显著性影响。应从多方面提升农村女性婚姻迁移者的社区融合水平。