9 Oct 2024
Other,
12:30 - 13:30 (local time: Europe/Zurich)
Gender Regimes and Power Dynamics in Transnational Conjugality
Marital choices are no longer confined to small geographic areas. Intimate and romantic encounters now occur on a global scale, extending matrimonial recruitment beyond borders, particularly between Western and non-Western regions (Sizaire 2021a). However, this distribution is not random; it is shaped by gendered logics, as evidenced by research on transnational intimacies and conjugalities (Croucher 2013; Constable 2003; Fechter 2016; Fresnoza-Flot 2021; Despres 2021) and statistics on binational marriages (Niedomysl, Östh, and Ham 2010; Levchenko and Solheim 2013; Sizaire 2021b).
Drawing on my previous research on French-Post-Soviet intamicies and ongoing investigations into privileged mobility and transnational conjugality in West Africa and South-East Asia, I argue that the concept of gender regimes is a heuristic tool to fully understand the growth of transnational relationships. Gender regimes refer to the specific rules and norms each nation builds to organize gender relations (Yuval-Davis 1997). These norms are historically and geographically situated and constantly evolving, albeit slowly. Produced through interactions, gender can be challenged at any time.
In transnational conjugalities, individuals from different backgrounds, particularly regarding gender norms, may experience liminal spaces where they can invent or try new power relations. For instance, non-Western men involved with older, economically dominant Western women may reinforce their masculinity in their home countries (Despres 2021; Meiu 2017). Non-Western women may marry men living in Western countries to escape gender and conjugal norms in their home countries (Constable 2003; Riaño 2011; Fresnoza-Flot 2021). Western men may migrate to non-Western countries and engage in transnational relationships to perform a type of masculinity unreachable in their origin countries (Maher et Lafferty 2014; Sizaire 2024) while Western women can experience liminal position and gender freedom by migrating in non-Western countries and developing intimacy with local men (Croucher 2013).
Ultimately, this paper demonstrates that gender is a fundamental parameter shaping transnational conjugalities, influencing every level of analysis from individual interactions to broader societal structures. By understanding these dynamics, we can better comprehend the complex nature of globalized intimate relationships and the evolving power structures within them.
Dr Laure Sizaire obtained her PhD in socio-anthropology from the Université Lumière Lyon 2 in 2021. In 2023, she joined the Laboratoire d’Anthropologie des Mondes Contemporains (LAMC) at the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) as a post-doctoral researcher on the AspirE project. In 2024, she starts a MSCA fellowship. Her research focuses on the intersections of transnational conjugality, gender, and migration, as well as the reconfiguration of power relations in these contexts.