Global Marriage: Cross-Border Marriage Migration in Global Context

259 Pages·2010·1.075 MB·English

by  Lucy Williams (auth.)

Migration,MinoritiesandCitizenship
GeneralEditors:ZigLayton-Henry,ProfessorofPolitics,UniversityofWarwick;
and Danièle Joly, Professor, Director, Centre for Research in Ethnic Relations,
UniversityofWarwick
Titlesinclude:
MuhammadAnwar,PatrickRoachandRanjitSondhi(editors)
FROMLEGISLATIONTOINTEGRATION?
RaceRelationsinBritain
JamesA.Beckford,DanièleJolyandFarhadKhosrokhavar
MUSLIMSINPRISON
ChallengeandChangeinBritainandFrance
GideonCalder,PhillipCole,JonathanSeglow
CITIZENSHIPACQUISITIONNATIONALBELONGING
Migration,MembershipandtheLiberalDemocraticState
ThomasFaistandAndreasEtte(editors)
THEEUROPEANIZATIONOFNATIONALPOLICIESANDPOLITICS
OFIMMIGRATION
BetweenAutonomyandtheEuropeanUnion
ThomasFaistandPeterKivisto(editors)
DUALCITIZENSHIPINGLOBALPERSPECTIVE
FromUnitarytoMultipleCitizenship
AdrianFavell
PHILOSOPHIESOFINTEGRATION
ImmigrationandtheIdeaofCitizenshipinFranceandBritain
AgataGórnyandPauloRuspini(editors)
MIGRATIONINTHENEWEUROPE
East-WestRevisited
JamesHampshire
CITIZENSHIPANDBELONGING
ImmigrationandthePoliticsofDemocraticGovernanceinPostwarBritain
JohnR.Hinnells(editor)
RELIGIOUSRECONSTRUCTIONINTHESOUTHASIANDIASPORAS
FromOneGenerationtoAnother
AyhanKaya
ISLAM,MIGRATIONANDINTEGRATION
TheAgeofSecuritization
ZigLayton-HenryandCzarinaWilpert(editors)
CHALLENGINGRACISMINBRITAINANDGERMANY
JørgenS.Nielsen
TOWARDSAEUROPEANISLAM
PontusOdmalm
MIGRATIONPOLICIESANDPOLITICALPARTICIPATION
InclusionorIntrusioninWesternEurope?
AspasiaPapadopoulou-Kourkoula
TRANSITMIGRATION
TheMissingLinkBetweenEmigrationandSettlement
JanRath(editor)
IMMIGRANTBUSINESSES
TheEconomic,PoliticalandSocialEnvironment
Carl-UlrikSchierup(editor)
SCRAMBLEFORTHEBALKANS
Nationalism,GlobalismandthePoliticalEconomyofReconstruction
VickiSquire
THEEXCLUSIONARYPOLITICSOFASYLUM
MaartenVink
LIMITSOFEUROPEANCITIZENSHIP
EuropeanIntegrationandDomesticImmigrationPolicies
ÖstenWahlbeck
KURDISHDIASPORAS
AComparativeStudyofKurdishRefugeeCommunities
LucyWilliams
GLOBALMARRIAGE
Cross-BorderMarriageMigrationinGlobalContext
Migration,MinoritiesandCitizenship
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Global Marriage
Cross-Border Marriage Migration in
Global Context
Lucy Williams
UniversityofKent,UK
©LucyWilliams2010
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2010 978-0-230-21807-9
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10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10
Mychildren
Icanhearthemtalking,mychildren
fluentEnglishandbrokenKurdish.
AndwheneverIdisagreewiththem
theywillcomforteachotherbysaying:
Don’tworryaboutmum,she’sKurdish.
WillIbetheforeignerinmyownhome?
(ChomanHardi)
This page intentionally left blank
Contents
Acknowledgements viii
1 IntroducingCross-BorderMarriageMigration 1
2 GenderingMigration 19
3 AnAgencyApproachtoUnderstandingMarriage
Migration 34
4 AnOverviewofGlobalCross-BorderMarriageMigration 52
5 Power,StigmaandViolenceinMigrationand
Cross-BorderMarriage 74
6 TransnationalMarriagewithinSouthAsianCommunities 99
7 Cross-BorderMarriageswithinEastAsia 120
8 MarriagewithinRefugeeCommunities 141
9 MigrationRegimesandPolicyImplications 162
10 MigrantLife/MarriedLife 182
11 ConclusionandaProposedResearchAgenda 204
Notes 222
Bibliography 224
Index 240
vii
Acknowledgements
MyfirstacknowledgementhastogotomyverygoodfriendDrMei-Kuei
Yuwhoshowedmehowimportantthecategoryofmarriagemigration
is. She introduced me to cross-border marriage migration as a much
broader field of study than I ever would have appreciated from my
parochial European position. I also acknowledge the debt I owe to my
friendswhocametotheUKasrefugees–andwhosehopesanddreams
continue to be affected by that experience. Thanks are also due to my
colleagues in the marriage and migration research group – especially
Dr Katharine Charsley and Dr Helena Wray, who have further broad-
enedmyview.WithoutDrMeccaChiesa’sbadgering,thisprojectmight
neverhavebeenlaunchedandwithoutKalliGlezakou’sencouragement
itmightwellhavesunk–Ihopeshewilltakeheartfromtheconclusion
ofthistaskthatbigprojectsdofinish,eventually.Heartfeltthanksalso
gotoDrChomanHardiforhergenerosityinlettingmeuseherpoem,
forhersupport,commiserationandforbeingamate.Iacknowledgeher
publisher, Bloodaxe Books, for giving me permission to reproduce her
poem,‘MyChildren’–thesentimentsofwhichseemtometosumup
thedilemmaofmanymigrantparents.
FinalthanksgotomysteadfastfamilyandespeciallytoBandNwho
are,andhave,livingproofofthechallengesanddelightsofcross-border
migrationformarriageandintimatepartnership.
ThisisbookisdedicatedtoAileenandXinYi.
viii
1
Introducing Cross-Border
Marriage Migration
Thisbooktakesabroadviewoftheglobalphenomenonofcross-border
marriage migration and attempts to highlight the migration choices
and strategies of individuals, families and communities within politi-
cal,legal,socialandeconomicstructures.Itattemptstoanalysepatterns
of migration from the perspectives of the migrants themselves and,
using mostly secondary data, will discuss how marriage across borders
may mould the migration patterns of individuals and communities.
Throughout the book I start from the assumption that citizenship of
countries from the Global South is a disadvantage in terms of global
migrationas,ingeneral,allbuttheelitesofthesecountries,aredisqual-
ified from the migration opportunities that citizens of the developed
enjoy.Iemphasise,however,thatconnectiontocountriesoftheGlobal
South may confer other attributes that open channels of migration
whichcanbeexploitedbywould-bemigrants.Byfocusingonthemigra-
tion stories of migrants, this book aims to improve understanding of
how migration may be negotiated as well as learn about the affects
of migration on migrants and those connected to them. Cross-border
marriage migration provides a case study for these far-reaching issues
as it is a truly global phenomenon and one which sees migrants mov-
ing between the developing countries of the world as well as between
developinganddevelopedcountries.
Thestudiesdrawnonforthisbooksuggestdifferentpatternsofmar-
riage migration. Marriage migration, for example, is integral to many
transnational communities, that is, those that have established them-
selves in several countries across the world. In other cases, marriage
migration may represent a first migration step which creates a poten-
tial for future links between countries. Marriage migration happens
because there are structural opportunities for individuals to migrate to
1