The Entanglements of Migration and Marriage: Negotiating Mobility Projects Among Young Indonesian Women from Migrant-Sending Villages

Abstract

In Indonesian society, both 'migration' and 'marriage' are important social markers that signify transition to adulthood. This paper examines how young Indonesian women reconcile labour migration aspirations with hegemonic constructions of marriage and gendered household roles, where women are depicted as household 'managers' subordinate to their husbands who are the 'masters'. From interviews with 29 young women from migrant-sending villages known for its high international migration rates, we highlight how they negotiate the interplay of (gendered) labour migration opportunities which promote their mobilities, and marriage 'destinies' which valorise their immobilities. We use young women's discussions of their aspirations and views towards migration as a departure to analyse the entangled relationship between labour migration and marriage (prospects). Using a relational approach complemented with 'logics for aspiring' (Zipin et al. 2015), we argue that their constructions of mobility projects are dynamically negotiated in the interstices between individual aspirations and social (gendered) obligations.