Promoting Patriarchy or Dual Equality? Multiculturalism and the Immigrant Household Division of Labor.

• In Event: 519 - Section on Race, Class and Gender Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: Table 06. Intersectionality and Inequality in the Life Course

Abstract

In this article, we contribute to a growing debate regarding the relationship between multicultural immigration policies and gender equality. One argument identifies multiculturalism as a key obstacle to gender equality among immigrant families, as it is thought to impede the transmission of liberal ideals of gender equality from host societies to immigrant communities. Another argument suggests instead that multiculturalism and gender egalitarianism are “dual equality projects,” where multiculturalism promotes ethnic equality for migrant communities, which in turn facilitates the transmission of gender egalitarianism. To adjudicate between these two perspectives, we examine the extent to which multicultural policies at the national level affect micro level determinants of the household division of labor—relative resources, time availability and gender ideology—among immigrant couples in 12 industrialized countries. Our findings suggest that multiculturalism tends to increase the egalitarian effects of these micro foundations among immigrant households. We therefore identify conditions under which gender egalitarianism and multiculturalism can operate as “dual equality projects.”

Authors

• Ronald Kwon

• Matthew C. Mahutga, University of California at Riverside

• Amanda Admire, University of California, Riverside