Living the long-term consequences of Thai-Western marriage migration

The radical life-course transformations of women who partner older Westerners

Datos Bibliográficos

ID3629680
AutoresP Statham (0000-0003-4229-4230)
Año2020
Volumen46
Número8
Páginas1562-1587
Fecha de publicación2020-06-10
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaNew Community (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0047-9586 • E-ISSN: 1469-9451
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/1369183x.2019.1565403
OpenAlexW2910191110
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas25
Referencias citadas27

This article examines how relationships between Thai women and older Western men transform over the long-term, from a woman’s perspective. We present a model that identifies stages in the life-cycle or ‘narrative arc’ of a long-term partnership. This framework allows us to study how negotiated exchanges (material, emotional) between the couple evolve in ‘stages’ over time, and the degree to which a woman is empowered from her initial position of relative subservient dependency. We examine three factors that shape her relative autonomy in a partnership in ways that can result in greater security, wellbeing, and status. First, increasing access to individual formal rights (primarily through marriage) can lead to relative financial independence and security. Second, differential ageing in a couple can shift the balance of dependency as he becomes relatively infirm. Third, her changing obligations to natal family members, balanced with caring for her partner, can importantly shape her wellbeing. The study is based on 20 biographical interviews with women in partnerships for 7-30 years. We find that almost every aspect of a woman’s life transforms radically. Most consider it a worthwhile life-strategy, but many suffer hidden psychological costs as a result of living this ‘unintended transnationalism’ over the long-term

Autonomy · General partnership · Independence (probability theory · Life course approach · Narrative · Perspective (graphical · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Transnationalism · Diaspora, migration, transnational identity · Gender Studies · Intergenerational Family Dynamics and Caregiving · Law · Migration and Labor Dynamics · Psychology · Social Psychology