Suchergebnisse

Migration scholarship has often lagged behind developments in gender studies. The importance of gender has gained increasing recognition, but this has predominantly meant a focus on women migrants. Only recently has a gendered lens been turned to the study of migrant men. Discourses surrounding migration in law and government, and in legal scholarship, remain characterized by neglect or dismissal of the gendered experiences of male migrants. Where they do appear, men are frequently cast as the oppressor of family members or as abusing legal channels of migration. Their vulnerabilities and affective ties and needs are rarely foregrounded. This negative representation may be instrumentalized at a variety of levels, and for a variety of purposes, making it difficult for more nuanced critiques to gain purchase. This special issue seeks to extend the discussion of migration and gender by exploring the ways in which men's gendered experiences of migration remain marginalized.

In the context of the European Convention on Human Rights obligation to respect family life, the UK government's stated aim of significantly reducing immigration is challenged by the volume of marriage-related migration and settlement. In this context, increased immigration policy attention has focussed on the genuineness of marriages involving migrants. The resulting attempts to define, identify and combat marriages of convenience are, however, based on a binary of genuine and 'sham' marriages, and sometimes normative criteria for evaluating the authenticity of relationships. These may not adequately account for the diversity of marital practices involving migration, and risk producing discriminatory outcomes. With the assistance of previously unpublished UKBA material, this article explores recent developments surrounding 'sham marriages' to highlight areas of particular concern, before setting out an agenda for urgently needed research in this under-studied but increasingly critical area. ; In the context of the European Convention on Human Rights obligation to respect family life, the UK government's stated aim of significantly reducing immigration is challenged by the volume of marriage-related migration and settlement. In this context, increased immigration policy attention has focussed on the genuineness of marriages involving migrants. The resulting attempts to define, identify and combat marriages of convenience are, however, based on a binary of genuine and 'sham' marriages, and sometimes normative criteria for evaluating the authenticity of relationships. These may not adequately account for the diversity of marital practices involving migration, and risk producing discriminatory outcomes. With the assistance of previously unpublished UKBA material, this article explores recent developments surrounding 'sham marriages' to highlight areas of particular concern, before setting out an agenda for urgently needed research in this under-studied but increasingly critical area.

Spouses form the largest single category of migrant settlement in the UK, but research and policy making on marriage-related migration to Britain provides incomplete coverage of the phenomenon, having been dominated by a focus in the South Asian populations which are among the largest groups of such migrants. By bringing together immigration statistics with information from academic and third sector sources, this article attempts to provide a more balanced and nuanced portrayal of patterns and practices of marriage-related migration to the UK. In doing so, it reveals important nationality and gender differences in migration flows, and considers how varying marriage practices, social and political contexts, and policies of both receiving and sending countries may work to influence marriage-related migration streams. It also exposes the limitations and lacunae in existing research on this diverse form of migration, highlighting the danger that immigration policy made on the basis of partial evidence will produce unexpected consequences. ; Spouses form the largest single category of migrant settlement in the UK, but research and policy making on marriage-related migration to Britain provides incomplete coverage of the phenomenon, having been dominated by a focus in the South Asian populations which are among the largest groups of such migrants. By bringing together immigration statistics with information from academic and third sector sources, this article attempts to provide a more balanced and nuanced portrayal of patterns and practices of marriage-related migration to the UK. In doing so, it reveals important nationality and gender differences in migration flows, and considers how varying marriage practices, social and political contexts, and policies of both receiving and sending countries may work to influence marriage-related migration streams. It also exposes the limitations and lacunae in existing research on this diverse form of migration, highlighting the danger that immigration policy made on the basis of partial evidence will produce unexpected consequences.