From bargaining to alliance with patriarchy: The role of Taiwanese husbands in marriage migrants' civic organisations in Taiwan

Lara Momesso

doi:10.1111/apv.12282

Abstract

This paper, by looking at the role of Taiwanese citizens in civic organisations for marriage migrants, explores how women's agency and negotiation occur not only against masculine dominance within patriarchal family arrangements, but also in alliance with it, when oppression is located somewhere beyond the family. In contrast to literature that depicts marriage migration as a women's and migrants' issue, this paper explores the role of Taiwanese citizens (often husbands in cross‐border marriages) in shaping the evolution of the phenomenon in both the private and public spheres. The aim of this paper is to fill a gap in empirical literature on marriage migration in Taiwan and East Asia, as well as contribute to feminist debates on women's agency in the context of masculine dominance. Building on ethnographic data collected through fieldwork in Taiwan, including in‐depth interviews and participant observation within civil society organisations for marriage migrants, this paper reveals how Taiwanese male citizens and Chinese female migrants responded to the challenges brought by their decision to engage in cross‐border unions by creating a new narrative that could explain their condition of shared oppression and by developing joint actions to address the structural discrimination they faced as cross‐border couples in Taiwan.

Highlights

The 20th century has been defined by Castles et al (2014) as the age of migration, suggesting a dramatic increase in cross-border movements at a global level, and the 21st century has followed suit
This paper aims to expand on that earlier work, by investigating Taiwanese husbands and their migrant wives in the context of civic organisations focused on advancing the rights of cross-Strait families in Taiwan
The presence of Taiwanese spouses in these organisations is acknowledged by the literature (Chang, 2004; Chao, 2006; King, 2007; Momesso and Cheng, 2017), in this paper, I hold that it is important to delve deeper into their contributions, actions and narratives, and to critically assess their role in shaping the collective actions of their immigrant wives

Summary

Introduction

The 20th century has been defined by Castles et al (2014) as the age of migration, suggesting a dramatic increase in cross-border movements at a global level, and the 21st century has followed suit. In a region where family formation is still defined by the patriarchal logics of patrilineality, patrilocality and hypergamy, traditional marriages that would once have been arranged locally, for instance by matching men and women from neighbouring villages, are occurring across borders. In such cases, women from poorer countries or areas can move up through the spatial hierarchy and access new opportunities by marrying a man from a wealthier area (Tseng, 2010: 33–34)

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