Migration, patriarchy and ‘modern’ Islam: views from left behind wives in rural northern Bangladesh

Kamal, Marzana (2022) Migration, patriarchy and ‘modern’ Islam: views from left behind wives in rural northern Bangladesh. Contemporary South Asia, 30 (1). pp. 112-123. ISSN 0958-4935

Text CSA Marzana Kamal 28 Nov 2021 Final.docx - Accepted Version Download (48kB)

Abstract

Male labour migration can both empower and disempower non-migrating, or left behind, wives – contingent on further distinctions of rural-urban, nuclear-extended households and of class, religion and educational background. Migration catalyses transformations in the gender and religious norms in rural northern Bangladesh. It entrenches patriarchal norms and helps to reinforce the practices of ‘modern’ Islam – by creating the identity of ‘respected’ housewife, a woman who stays home, takes care of her in-laws and wears the burqa՝ – that works within the codes of enhanced classic patriarchy. These patriarchal norms and practices dampen women’s agency through patriarchal codes – constituted of the power relations between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law, restrictions on the physical autonomy of women and women’s dependency on their male kin. In-laws, and the assistance of natal kin, curtail women’s decision-making power. This curtailment serves, ultimately, to sustain the power the in-laws and natal kin exercise over the women.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information and Comments:	This is an author's original manuscript of an article whose final and definitive form, the version of record, has been published in Contemporary South Asia (27th February 2022) [copyright Taylor & Francis], available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/09584935.2021.2021853
Keywords:	rural Bangladesh; modern Islam; migration; Muslim wives; burqa՝
Faculty / Department:	Faculty of Education and Social Sciences > School of Social Sciences
Depositing User:	Marzana Kamal
Date Deposited:	29 Nov 2021 09:13
Last Modified:	04 Jan 2023 14:27
URI:	https://hira.hope.ac.uk/id/eprint/3444

Actions (login required)

View Item