Gulf Male Migration in Kerala: How do the Female Spouses Cope with It?

Abstract

International male migration, where they have to leave their wives and families behind is becoming an increasingly visible trend in India in general and Kerala in particular. The scholars of international migration have produced a number of studies that research in detail about the economic implications on the household of these migrants. However, there have been a very limited number of studies that endeavored to look into the experiences of the wives of these migrants, especially within the context of India. This study attempts to bridge this gap by conducting a qualitative investigation on the effects of international migration of adult male members in the Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala, specifically on their wives with the broader objective of unravelling the difficulties and concerns (if any) faced by these women in the physical absence of their husbands. In doing so, it also efforts to explore the continuity and changes in the discourse. Contextualized against the Indian landscape of patriarchy, the paper particularly intends to delineate the gendered experiences of these women especially with respect to the agency, autonomy, and decision making power exercised by them within familial settings. Further ahead, the research also aims to look into the nature of their relationship with their migrant spouses and the implications this has on their personal lives. Theoretically situated within the relational autonomy and intersectional frameworks of feminism, the study will base its findings on the data acquired qualitatively from the semi-structured interviews conducted with fifteen women from Thiruvananthapuram, whose husbands have migrated to Gulf countries for work.