Migration and marriage in Asian contexts

Abstract

This article reviews literature on migration and marriage and highlights contributions of the papers in this special issue. The papers show that Asian marriage migrants’ experience of integration and assimilation are complex, nuanced, and heterogeneous across migrants’ sociodemographic backgrounds, ethnic profiles, and political contexts. The heterogeneities in Asian marriage migrants’ assimilation trajectories challenge the classic assimilation theory which assumes an unilinear integration trajectory in all relevant aspects. This issue diversifies the academic discourses on migration and marriage by going beyond marriage migration to include how other types of migration shape family formation processes including divorce and remarriage. It also examines the mechanisms underlying the migration-marriage link. Finally, this special issue widens methodological repertoires in the field of marriage and migration by using quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-method analyses to divulge the complexity of the relationships. Topics examined in these papers include variations in economic well-being, cultural assimilation, gender inequality vis-à-vis marriages, migrants’ subjective well-being, and how policies pertinent to cross-cultural marriages affect migrants. Unlike in the western societies where race/ethnic integration is a dominant concern, in Asia, the extended families of marriage migrants and their spouses, patriarchy, religion, and caste also play a big role in Asian migrants’ family formation behaviours.