Marriage Migration and Integration, 1st ed. 2020 British South Asian Transnational Marriages and Processes of Integration Palgrave Macmillan Studies in Family and Intimate Life Series

This book provides the first sustained empirical evidence on the relationships between marriage migration and processes of integration, focusing on two of the largest British ethnic minority groups involved in these kinds of transnational marriages ? Pakistani Muslims and Indian Sikhs.

In Britain, and across Europe, concern has been increasingly expressed over the implications of marriage-related migration for integration. Children and grandchildren of former immigrants marrying partners from their ancestral ?homelands? is often presented as problematic in forming a 'first generation in every generation,? and inhibiting processes of individual and group integration, impeding socio-economic participation and cultural change. As a result, immigration restrictions have been justified on the grounds of promoting integration, despite limited evidence. Marriage Migration and Integration provides much needed new grounding for both academic and policy debates.

This book draws on both quantitative and qualitative data to compare transnational ?homeland? marriages with intra-ethnic marriages within the UK. Using a distinctive holistic model of integration, the authors examine processes in multiple interacting domains, such as employment, education, social networks, extended family living, gender relations and belonging.  It will be of use to students and scholars across sociology, social anthropology, and social policy with a focus on migration, integration, family studies, gender, and ethnic studies, as well as policy-makers and service providers in the UK and across Europe.

1. Introduction: Marriage Migration and Integration.- 2. What is Integration?.- 3. Explaining British South Asian Transnational Marriage.- 4. Employment and Economic Wellbeing.- 5.Taking Part 1: Social Networks.- 6. Families, Households, Gender and Culture.- 7. Taking Part 2: Civic and Political Integration.- 8. Belonging.- 9. Conclusion.

Katharine Charsley is Professor of Migration Studies in the School for Sociology, Politics and International Studies at the University of Bristol, UK.

Marta Bolognani is an independent scholar, UK.  

Evelyn Ersanilli is Senior Researcher at the Department of Political Sciences at the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Sarah Spencer is Director of Strategy and Senior Fellow at the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS) at the University of Oxford, UK.

Enhances understanding of the relationships between marriage-related migration and the complex processes covered by the term ‘integration’

Draws on quantitative and qualitative data to compare transnational ‘homeland’ marriages with intra-ethnic marriages within the UK

Provides new grounding for both policy and academic debates