Master of Arts / Department of Geography / Max Lu / This study analyzes the cross-border marriage migration of Vietnamese women to China. It is based on sixty-four in-depth interviews with Chinese-Vietnamese couples living in Guangxi province, near the border between China and Vietnam. Most of these Vietnamese women are “invisible,” or undocumented, in China because they do not have legal resident status. The women came from rural areas in northern Vietnam and generally have relatively lower levels of education. The primary reason the Vietnamese women chose to marry Chinese men rather than Vietnamese men was to have a better life in China; the women stated that living in China was better because of its stronger economic conditions, higher standard of living, and the higher quality of housing for families. Many of the Vietnamese women stated that by marrying Chinese men, they could also support their family in Vietnam. The Chinese men who marry Vietnamese women tend to be at the lower end of the social-economic spectrum with limited education. These men often have difficulties finding Chinese wives due to their low economic status and the overall shortage of local Chinese women. Both the Vietnamese women and Chinese men use different types of informal social networks to find their potential spouses. The cultural (particularly linguistic) similarities and historical connections between the border regions of China and Vietnam facilitate cross-border marriages and migration, which are likely to continue in the future.

In 2005, following the deaths of several marriage migrants known as "mail-order brides", the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act was created. Designed to regulate the international matchmaking industry and provide women with the information to make informed, safe decisions about their future partnership in an attempt to decrease instances of violence, this law was the result of an increase in awareness, collaboration between interested parties, and incorporation into a broader bill. For years, marriage brokers had operated using stereotypes about submissive foreign women to attract customers, recently bringing business onto the internet and creating websites marketing women as purchases. Five years after the passage of the law, however, the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act fails to address six key vulnerabilities faced by female marriage migrants. For this reason, women immigrating to the United States to marry a spouse after introduction through a marriage broker still face an increased likelihood of domestic violence and even death. The author concludes with a discussion about future improvements in both legislation and operation to address violence against immigrant women. / Master of Arts

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This study examines the patterns of family-forming migration from Turkey to Germany as one of the categories of marriage migration by taking into account the effects of migration policies, societal factors in both home and host countries as well as gender differences. The main objective of this study is to investigate how and for what purpose transnational marriages are used as strategies by migrants. This study assumes that restrictive migration policies of Germany paves the way for transnational marriages even if the focus is not on the marriage, itself. In this respect, considering the last changes in German Residence Act, within the research for this study, in-depth interviews were held with 10 men and 11 women who are in the process of family-forming migration. German language courses in Ankara were selected as research site in order to reach family-forming migration candidates who were learning German as a necessity of German Language Legislation. The significance of the study comes from its focus on the perceptions of family-forming migration in several issues in the pre-migration process which is different than the migration researches focusing on experiences after migration. Study examines the role of transnational ties existing both in Turkey and Germany, family values and economic factors in Turkey on patterns of family-forming migration which is changed by gender differences.

Seit ungefähr den 1960er Jahren migrieren Thailänder nach Deutschland, und es ist statistisch belegt, dass die Feminisierung der thailändischen Migration bis heute anhält (Bundesamt für Statistik, 2016). Frauen machen 87 Prozent aller in Deutschland lebenden Thailänder und Thailänderinnen aus. 94 Prozent aller Ehen mit thailändischer Beteiligung in Deutschland bestehen zwischen thailändischen Frauen und deutschen oder ausländischen Männern, während in nur 6 Prozent der Fälle thailändische Männer mit deutschen oder ausländischen Frauen verheiratet sind. Im Jahr 2005 waren 58.784 thailändische Staatsangehörige in Deutschland gemeldet, aber nur 43 Prozent davon waren nach dem deutschen Gesetz als „erwerbstätig“ registriert. Die vorliegende Arbeit untersucht das Beschäftigungsdilemma thailändischer Heiratsmigranten seit dem Inkrafttreten des neuen Aufenthaltsgesetzes im Jahr 2005. Zunächst beleuchtet sie die zugrundeliegenden Probleme, wegen derer die thailändische Heiratsmigranten ihr Potential als Vollzeit-Arbeitskräfte nicht ausschöpfen können, und erklärt, warum sich hochqualifizierte thailändische Heiratsmigranten nicht voll in den deutschen Arbeitsmarkt integrieren können. Dann untersucht sie die thailändische Diaspora und den Transnationalismus thailändischer Heiratsmigranten in Deutschland, und schließlich versucht sie, anhand Pierre Bourdieus Theorie von Kapital, Habitus und sozialem Raum die Berufsentscheidungen thailändischer Heiratsmigranten im deutschen Umfeld zu erklären. Qualitative Interviews, welche zwischen 2016 und 2017 durchgeführt worden sind, stellen mit 38 Informanten und einem quantitativen Fragebogen, der von 125 Befragten ausgefüllt wurde, bislang eine der umfangreichsten Forschungen über thailändische Ehemigranten in Deutschland dar. / Thais started to migrate to Germany around the 1960s, and it is statistically evident that the feminisation of Thai migration through marriage to Germans has continued to the present day (Federal Statistics Office of Germany, 2016). Women account for almost 87 percent of all Thais in Germany. Marriages of Thai women to German or foreign husbands account for 94 percent of marriages in Germany involving Thai nationals, compared to only six percent of Thai men married to German or foreign wives. In 2005, the total number of Thais in Germany was 58,784; however, only 43 percent of Thais were registered as “labour” under the German employment system. This paper investigates the employment dilemma of Thai marriage migrants after implementation of the new Residence Act of 2005. First, it sheds light on the underlying problems that hinder Thai marriage migrants’ potential as full-time labourers and provides better understanding of why highly-educated Thai marriage migrants cannot fully integrate into the German labour market. Second, it examines the Thai diaspora and explores the present-day trans-nationalism of Thai marriage migrants in Germany. Finally, it applies Pierre Bourdieu’s theoretical concept of capital, habitus and social space to better understand Thai marriage migrants’ career choices in the German milieu. Qualitative interviews with 38 informants and a quantitative questionnaire filled out by 125 additional respondents were conducted between 2016 and 2017, providing one of the most comprehensive researches on Thai marriage migrants in Germany to date.

The promotion of education has long been a priority of the successive regimes of Ethiopia. Combined with the momentum of Education for All (EFA) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in recent years Ethiopia’s education sector has experienced a major expansion of primary school enrolment which has earned Ethiopia international acclaim and so much optimism in meeting the MDGs set for 2015. Despite this, however, large numbers of primary school aged children remain out of school, most of these are found in rural areas and many of them are girls. Many of the children that enrol do not stay on to complete the full cycle of their primary schooling. While there are numerous studies looking at rural children’s schooling, village-based ethnographic studies are rare, particularly in Ethiopia. The thesis offers a sociological insight as to why low enrolment and incompletion persist in rural areas. Drawing on an ethnographic approach study over extended period this thesis presents analysis of data from two local communities. Methodologically the analysis are anchored on the voices of the children, their parents and teachers and make a valuable contribution in emphasising not only the importance of bringing local people’s own voices into the debate, but also drawing attention to the ways voice may be utilised and calling for greater sensitivity to the way it is interpreted in scholarly and policy circles. Theoretically, the study shows the value of applying Bourdieu’s approach to social reproduction in analysing the challenges faced by rural children in completing primary school. Time spent with children, their families and their teachers suggests reproduction of educational inequality at all levels (home, school, community). While these are certainly important, this thesis argues that more attention needs to be paid to the social context in which children and their schooling are embedded. It suggests the challenges in schooling rural children are not simply explained either by the quantity of primary schools available, or a lack of value being accorded to education, or deliberate acts of discrimination (e.g. against girls). Rather, it has argued that discriminatory outcomes, or the reproduction of social inequality, have to be understood as the outcome of social practice, where ‘choices’ are made in circumstances of considerable constraint. Furthermore, it has shown that these patterns of social reproduction are as characteristic of teachers and the field of the school as they are of parents and children and the field of home and community. Rather than the school operating as an external change agent, as imagined in much of the education literature, the school is very much part of the local social context. The application of policies and the social practice of staff are significantly marked by their positionality within the communities which they serve.

This thesis examines the everyday life experiences of Turkish migrants settled in the Netherlands. It analyzes how the Turkish minority perceives their daily lives in the Netherlands in the manner of the identity construction and integration process. The narratives of the migrants are explored in the following ways; media use, language use, attachment to the country of origin, views on identity construction, and integration. Ethnic media use, second language use, and the level of attachment to Turkey are used as indicators for everyday life experiences while integration and identity construction are investigated dependently. Most importantly, this study argues that integration is a two- way process that takes place differently in multiple spheres. For this reason, it analyzes the concept of integration through the voices of the Turkish migrants in the Netherlands rather than focusing solely on the adopted policies. Keywords: Turkish minority, the Netherlands, everyday experiences, integration, identity

Cette thèse porte sur les effets du processus de parrainage sur les dynamiques conjugales et les parcours de vie. À partir d’une approche de recherche qualitative et interdisciplinaire, 20 participant.e.s, 7 hommes et 13 femmes, qui ont vécu une expérience de parrainage conjugal à titre de parrain ou de conjoint.e parrainé.e ont été rencontré.e.s en entrevue. Dans cette thèse, nous explorons plus particulièrement les effets du processus de parrainage sur les dynamiques conjugales selon deux périodes : 1) du début des procédures de demande de parrainage jusqu’à l’obtention du visa de résidence permanente et 2) durant l’engagement de parrainage de trois ans. Nous documentons également les expériences d’une séparation conjugale qui survient lors de l’engagement de parrainage. Les analyses verticales et transversales basées sur les perspectives de parcours de vie ont permis de rendre compte de la diversité de parcours en articulant l’expérience du processus de parrainage notamment à la trajectoire migratoire, à la composition conjugale, au genre et à l’ethnicité. Si, à première vue, il paraissait évident que le parrainage crée une inégalité dans le couple en positionnant la personne parrainée sous la responsabilité financière de son parrain, il s’est avéré en creusant davantage le sujet les trajectoires et dynamiques conjugales demeurent beaucoup plus complexes et que l’analyse doit prendre en compte les périodes prémigratoires ainsi que les conditions de migration et les réseaux de soutien potentiels. Finalement, à la lumière des résultats de l’étude, nous proposons une typologie des parcours types qui rend compte à la fois de la diversité des parcours et des niveaux d’influence que le processus de parrainage peut produire sur les dynamiques conjugales. / This thesis focuses on the effects of the sponsorship process on marital dynamics and life courses. Based on a qualitative and interdisciplinary research approach, 20 participants, 7 men and 13 women, who had a sponsorship experience as a sponsor or a sponsored spouse, were interviewed. In this thesis, we explore the effects on conjugal dynamics in two key moments: 1) from the beginning of the sponsorship application process to obtaining the permanent residence visa, and 2) during the sponsorship undertaking of three years. We also document the experiences of a marital separation that occurs during the sponsorship undertaking. The vertical and cross-sectional analysis method used in this thesis made it possible for us to report on the diversity of pathways by articulating the experience of the sponsorship process, in particular with migration trajectory, marital composition, gender and ethnicity. If, at first glance, it seemed obvious that sponsorship creates inequality in couples by positioning the sponsored person under the financial responsibility of his or her sponsor, it turned out that the analysis of conjugal dynamics was more complex. Finally, in the light of the results of the study, we propose a typology of typical pathways that reflects both the diversity of pathways and levels of influence that the sponsorship process can produce on conjugal dynamics.

Les nouvelles technologies, tel l’Internet, nous permettent d'obtenir tout ce que l'on désire en appuyant sur une simple touche. Elles procurent des plateformes inédites de communication, comme des espaces virtuels de rencontre, aux gens en quête d'un époux ou d’une épouse et ainsi permettent aux agences virtuelles spécialisées dans ce type d'union de proliférer. Ces nombreux sites de rencontre offrent aux hommes de rencontrer une femme peu importe d'où elle vient. Les femmes de l'Asie du sud-est sont très populaires auprès de ces hommes. Bon nombre d’études ont démontré que des difficultés économiques jouent un rôle de prime importance dans une décision de faire appel à ces agences pour émigrer par le biais d’un mariage avec un étranger. Par contre, en Asie du sud-est, la Thaïlande se distingue par ses réussites économiques régionales et par sa tradition matrilinéaire. Dans ce contexte, qu’est-ce qui induit des femmes thaïlandaises à chercher un mari à l'étranger ? Je tenterai de répondre à cette question en examinant les influences des facteurs suivants: hiérarchie sociale (ethnique et régionale); facteurs économiques (classes sociales); matrilinéarité; conception locale de l'amour, du sexe et du mariage et, enfin, l'importance du trajet personnel de chaque femme dans son évaluation des facteurs influents menant à son choix d’épouser un étranger. / New technologies, such as Internet, allow us to obtain anything we desire almost immediately by a simple click. They provide a novel platform for encounters, new meeting spaces for people wishing to find a marriage partner through Internet correspondence and provide a flourishing business to agencies specialized in this type of union. These countless web sites allow foreign men to meet women from every part of the world. Southeast Asian women are particularly popular among these men. A number of studies have demonstrated that the economic difficulties of countries in this region play an important role in the women’s decision to call upon these agencies in order to marry and to emigrate. In Southeast Asia, Thailand differentiates itself by its regional economic success and by its matrilineal tradition. In light of this, what induces Thai women to look for a husband abroad? I will attempt to answer this question by examining the influences of the following factors: social hierarchy (ethnic and regional); economic factors (social class); matrilinearity, local conception of love, sex and marriage and, finally, the importance of each woman’s personal path to determine which factors influence their choice of marrying a foreigner.