Beyond a framework of vulnerability in women’s migration: Punjabi women’s narratives of opposing migration

• In Event: International Migration Section Refereed Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): 08. Gendered processes in migration

Abstract

Contrary to dominant constructions of immobile women from the Global South as passive recipients of patriarchal family decisions regarding international migration, my interviews with thirteen women in Punjab (India) show women’s agency in decisions about migration. My interlocutors’ attachment to their lives in Punjab was an important factor for their resistance to international migration. It was the women’s subjective meaning of a “fulfilling life” – community ties, social influence, religious attachment, family unity, general detachment from migration —that made them resist migration/mobility. They opted for “staying put” in Punjab instead. Interestingly, while some of the women actively mobilized patriarchal values to “stay put,” some others defied patriarchal expectations to assert their position against migration. Regardless, the informants were decision makers regarding their own international migration subsequently questioning their dominant portrayal as “left behind.” Although the exploratory nature of this research limits its generalizability, the findings contribute to the scholarship analyzing the intersection of gender, Global South, and im/mobilities. Notably, based on the findings of this understudied group, I maintain that it is important to recognize that lives and identities of women in the Global South are shaped by the multiple intersecting social locations they occupy which then presents a complex array of reasons for their im/mobilities that should not be explained exclusively through the lens of patriarchy. Future research should focus on themes of Global South women’s im/mobilities generated here with attention to the multidimensionality of their lives.

Author

• Diditi Mitra, Brookdale Community College