Cousin marriage among Turkish and Moroccan Dutch: Debates on medical risk and forced marriage

In this chapter, we question the link between cousin marriage and forced marriage in the Netherlands. We retrace and study the recent political attention given to cousin marriage and the evolution of the debate. We argue that the Act Combatting Forced Marriage (specifically regarding cousin marriage), which is presented as a potential solution for a harmful practice (i.e. forced marriage), works to exclude certain people from full moral citizenship because of their cultural or religious background. In other words, Muslims cannot be fully part of society: they cannot be Dutch moral citizens. The consequence is that the everyday perspectives and experiences of people who practise cousin marriage remain hidden, in a sphere of resistance and unaffected by policies, while the changing perspectives on marriage informed by love (e.g. cousin marriages that are based on love) also remain unnoticed.