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Married women migrating from rural Uttar Pradesh and Bihar: juggling family duty and aspirations

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posted on 2023-06-10, 04:00 authored by Priya DeshingkarPriya Deshingkar, Jyoti Tripathi
This article traces the experiences of accompanying wives who had migrated with their husbands from southern Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and returned to their villages during the COVID-19 pandemic. It dwells on post-marriage migration and work which is an under-researched aspect of women’s migration. Our study offers insights into the ways in which married women navigate power relations within the family as well as their places of work to fulfil their family obligations and personal aspirations. The analysis shows how they juggle multiple family roles as wives, mothers, daughters-in-law and daughters in their decisions related to (im)mobility, work and earning. Theoretically, the article speaks to the production of gendered and racialised work and how these fit into capitalist accumulation, women’s productive and reproductive labour, and the tensions between family duties and personal aspirations. The women in the study were ‘factory’ workers, home-based workers and ‘homeworkers’, all with different subjectivities. Although women’s work and mobility are shaped by patriarchal norms in both states, the women in our study were pushing the boundaries of tradition and asserting their views within the family. Work in cities has given them the means of fulfilling aspirations, especially related to their children’s education.

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Published version

Journal

Social Change

ISSN

0049-0857

Publisher

SAGE Publications

Issue

2

Volume

52

Page range

276-290

Department affiliated with

  • Geography Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2022-06-23

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2022-06-23

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2022-06-23

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