Gender and International Migration: Globalization, Development, and Governance

Citation:

Benería, Lourdes, Carmen Diana Deere, and Naila Kabeer. 2012. “Gender and International Migration: Globalization, Development, and Governance.” Feminist Economics 18 (2): 1–33.

Authors: Lourdes Beneria, Carmen Diana Deere, Naila Kabeer

Abstract:

This contribution examines the connections between gender and international migration around three themes: globalization, national economic development, and governance. First, it discusses the connections between globalization and the multiplicity of processes that have contributed to international migration and its feminization, arguing that gender awareness is crucial to understanding these processes. Gender analysis makes visible the increasing commodification of care work on a global scale and highlights how the organization of families is changing. Second, it analyzes the various avenues through which migration may contribute to or hinder economic development, highlighting why remittances, in particular by women, have featured very positively in the migration and development policy discourse. Third, it discusses how issues of citizenship affect the migrant population, showing how gender analysis highlights many challenges with regard to nation-based notions of citizenship, particularly in the receiving countries.

Keywords: Gender, international migration, globalization, development, governance

Topics: Citizenship, Development, Displacement & Migration, Migration, Economies, Feminisms, Gender, Women, Gender Roles, Gender Analysis, Globalization, Governance, Households

Year: 2012