Constructing Global Social Problems: The Case of Child, Early, and Forced Marriage Público

Abstract

Child marriage, commonly defined as the marriage of children under the age 18, became an issue of concern over the past several decades. Today, the majority of countries have laws setting the minimum age of marriage at 18 years old. What explains this global legislative shift that started haltingly in the 1960s and 1970s and intensified greatly in the 1990s? This is one of the major research questions addressed in this dissertation. In addition to this global legislative trend, starting in the late 1990s, child marriage became a focus of concern for many international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) and multilateral organizations. How did child marriage come to be defined as a major global problem? This is the second major question examined in the dissertation. I address these questions through a mixed methods study. In the first section, I utilize qualitative methods such as interviews and document analysis to examine global cultural scripts that constitute the discourse against child marriage. Second, I conduct quantitative analyses of factors influencing legislation setting the minimum age of marriage at 18. I analyze time-series data for 167 countries from 1965 to 2015. By means of survival analysis techniques, I examine factors that help explain which countries were early adopters of legislation. By using logistic regression, I analyze factors that help explain whether or not a country ever adopted a minimum-18 marriage law in the 50 years of my analysis. Both qualitative and quantitative findings indicate that world cultural scripts are crucial for understanding the global fight against child marriage, in terms of both legislative reforms and the international movement. Country characteristics matter comparatively little; it is largely the global system that has shaped the process.

Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter One.....................................................................................................................1

Introduction

Chapter Two....................................................................................................................10

Emergence of Child Marriage as a Global Issue

Chapter Three.................................................................................................................38

Globalized Conceptions of "Adolescent Girls" and "Child Marriage": Findings from the Interviews and the Content Analysis

Chapter Four....................................................................................................................77

Child Marriage Between the Instrumental and the Moral: Interpretation of the Findings

Chapter Five...................................................................................................................109

Child Marriage in National Legislation: Theoretical Background and Working Hypotheses

Chapter Six.....................................................................................................................139

Data and Methods

Chapter Seven................................................................................................................169

Explaining the Global Spread of Minimum-18 Marriage Laws: Quantitative Findings

Chapter Eight................................................................................................................211

Conclusion

Appendix.........................................................................................................................222

Interview Guide

Bibliography...................................................................................................................223

About this Dissertation

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School	Laney Graduate School
Department	Sociology
Degree	PhD
Submission	Dissertation
Language	English
Research Field	Sociology, General
Palavra-chave	Globalization World culture Child marriage Human rights Development
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Boli, John E, Emory University
Committee Members	Browne, Irene, Emory University Longhofer, Wesley , Emory University Lechner, Frank, Emory University

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