Globalization of Kinship Norms in Mauritius

Research team

Nachita Rosun, Principal Investigator
Aiyana Koka Willard, Co-Investigator
Matthew Gervais, Co-Investigator

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Key information

Full title: Globalization of Kinship Norms in Mauritius
Host institution: Brunel University (United Kingdom)
Research location: Mauritius

This project is one of three additional Seedcorn awards.

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Project overview 

The world is becoming more interconnected, and this interconnection is driving cultural change. This is particularly true in the global south, where economic and technological changes and increased education are happening more rapidly. Increased access to other cultural norms and beliefs through globalization is giving people new perspectives on what is possible and acceptable in other cultures.

Cultures that are more focused on family ties and stricter social hierarchies may face internal and external challenges when faced with larger more merit-based economies. We are interested in understanding how these globalization processes work. Particularly, we are interested in how economic changes, increased education, and increased access to international media impact kin systems in terms of everyday social norms around family roles and relationships. We are also interested in if these changes are predicted by increased individualism, and the role of non-western cultures like India and China in this cultural change. Finally, we want to know if certain cultural practices, such as strict religious belief, may protect against globalization-driven cultural change.

We will explore these processes in Mauritius. Mauritius is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious island nation off the coast of Madagascar that has recently gone through decades of globalization-led economic growth. Because of its rapid development and multicultural nature, Mauritius is an ideal setting to examine how these globalization factors influence cultural change. Because of the rapid progress of this change, we will be able to look across generations to understand how people exposed to vastly different economic and educational systems in their lifetime embrace these changes. Because Mauritius has multiple cultural groups, we will be able to look at how different group-level cultural practices help or hinder these changes.

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Project contacts

If you would like to contact the project team, please email the grant management team in the first instance, at ces.transformationfund@durham.ac.uk.

Nachita Rosun: Twitter
Aiyana Koka Willard: Twitter
Matthew Gervais: Twitter