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" Wives Left Behind: "
Kamal, Marzana
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Latin Dissertation
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| Language of Document
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English
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| Record Number
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1107320
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| Doc. No
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TLpq2440378409
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| Main Entry
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Kamal, Marzana
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| Title & Author
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Wives Left Behind:\ Kamal, Marzana
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| College
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Bangor University (United Kingdom)
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| Date
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2020
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| student score
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2020
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| Degree
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Ph.D.
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| Page No
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252
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| Abstract
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Studies at the intersection of gender and labour migration have largely focused on female migrants. But in many developing countries, labour migrants remain predominantly male and their wives stay behind. Recently, the research focus has shifted to the left-behind community, but mostly with a quantitative research focus. This thesis addresses these gaps by placing women left behind at the centre of the focus, in the context of Bangladesh where international labour migration of the male population is prevalent. Using qualitative research methods, I examine the impacts of men’s migration on the everyday life and gender relations of their left-behind wives. I conducted 51 semi-structured interviews and participant observation over three months of fieldwork in two districts of Bangladesh: Bogura and Munshiganj. The former consists of remote villages, and the latter is suburban. My analysis suggests that the village wives lead strictly circumscribed lives under the supervision of their in-laws. Patriarchal norms are reinforced and displayed in power relations between mothers and daughters-in-law, restrictions on wives’ physical mobility, and their dependency on non-migrant male kin. The concept of ‘respectable woman’ valo meye further curbs village wives’ physical autonomy. Data from suburban Munshiganj suggests that changes in patrilocal settings in the migrant households place fewer restrictions on wives physical mobility. Religious clothing such as Burkha is practised by both the village and suburban wives. Burkha facilitates suburban wives’ physical mobility, but it does not serve that purpose for the village wives. Overall, suburban wives exercise greater decision-making power compared to the village wives. However, this cannot be identified as a significant gain; like the village wives, suburban wives’ everyday activities are also monitored and controlled through phone conversations with their migrant husbands. Early marriages of teenage daughters are widely practised, and young women remain particularly vulnerable to gender-based violence in both village and sub-urban contexts. Data from the interviews with migrant men suggests that village men promote female ‘modesty’, madrassa education and early marriages for girls. Regardless of differences between the destination countries (e.g. Malaysia and Saudi Arabia), return migrant men claim that the Saudi version of Purdah (through the practice of Burkha) is best for the women. The argument of the thesis is that the identity formation of ‘modern’ Muslim wives, in the milieu of men’s migration, does not convert to greater physical autonomy or decision-making power for the women. The thesis claims that men’s migration reinforces patriarchy and facilitates ‘modern Islamic’ trends in Bangladesh, in favour of men only. Finally, my thesis highlights the need to shift focus from the economic advantages of labour migration (remittances) to the social cost of such gender selective labour migration. It concludes that improvement in the financial status of the households in the study does not necessarily imply the advancement of women’s status in the family or in the broader community
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| Subject
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Gender studies
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Labor economics
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South Asian studies
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