Joint Family Transformation and Individualization Amongst Educated Young People in District Karak

Abstract

This paper will examine the change in the joint family system and the emergence of individualization among the educated young people in Karak District, Khyber Pakhtunkwana, Pakistan. The qualitative research design was used and semi-structured in-depth interviews with 30 educated young men and women were carried out. The results indicate that more people prefer to live nuclear families, have more focus on individuality in decision-making, altering marital choices, and more independence of women. The aspects that began to influence these changes were education, urbanization, and economic autonomy. Although traditional family values are still in effect, educated young people are bargaining between tradition and modernity. The work adds to sociological insights into the dynamics of change in the family setting of semi-urban conservative settings and can be viewed through the prism of the Individualization Theory and Liquid Modernity.

Keywords: family, nuclear family, joint family, individualization, District Karak, Pakistan, and educated youth.