Property in Greek Cypriot marriage strategies, 1920-1980

Abstract

In many Paphian hill villages there has been a change over a sixty-year period in the pattern of property transmissions within the family from a largely inheritance based system to an inter vivos dowry one. The reasons for this shift are first explained. It is then suggested that this change has been accompanied by corresponding parallel changes in the rationality of marriage, in the contemporary system a strategy of social advancement hinging on status and the long-term (often political) strategies of the participants. Although property is taken as the starting point of marriage, marriage is not a mere reflection of the market and economic factors. The range of options available to families not only differ across social classes but are also perceived differentially. Various overt and covert strategies are employed to achieve different objectives.