Difference between revisions of "Trailing spouses (India)"

| categories = [[:Category: India|India]] – [[:Category: South Asia| South Asia]] – [[:Category: Ethnicity| Ethnicity]] – [[:Category: Race| Race]] – [[:Category: Foreigner| Foreigner]] – [[:Category: Gender| Gender]] – [[:Category: Women| Women]] – [[:Category: Kinship| Kinship]] – [[:Category: Marriage| Marriage]] – [[:Category: Family| Family]] – [[:Category: Migration| Migration]] – [[:Category: Mobility| Mobility]] – [[:Category: Expatriate| Expatriate]] – [[:Category: Network| Network]] – [[:Category: Mutual help| Mutual help]]

| categories = [[:Category: India|India]] – [[:Category: South Asia| South Asia]] – [[:Category: Ethnicity| Ethnicity]] – [[:Category: Race| Race]] – [[:Category: Foreigner| Foreigner]] – [[:Category: Gender| Gender]] – [[:Category: Women| Women]] – [[:Category: Kinship| Kinship]] – [[:Category: Marriage| Marriage]] – [[:Category: Family| Family]] – [[:Category: Migration| Migration]] – [[:Category: Mobility| Mobility]] – [[:Category: Expatriate| Expatriate]] – [[:Category: Network| Network]] – [[:Category: Mutual help| Mutual help]]

| authorofpiece = Shalini Grover and Sanna Schliewe

| authorofpiece = Shalini Grover and Sanna Schliewe

| authorwebsite =

| authorwebsite =

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}}

[[Category: India]]

[[Category: India]]

[[Category: South Asia]]

[[Category: South Asia]]

|style="font-size:1.1em;"| Since the 1990s, when India opened its previously isolated economy to global markets, India has witnessed an influx of foreign nationals settling into its newly cosmopolitan cities. These include many citizens from Australia, East Asia, Europe and the United States. Cultural identities and terminologies such as ‘expatriate’ and ‘trailing spouse’ are now commonly invoked in the media and in cosmopolitan circles of the new growth economies such as India. ‘Expatriate’ is now a generic term for the white foreigner in a globalized India (Grover 2018a). Expatriates in India may also be referred to as ‘''gora'',’ a vernacular term for white people, as well as generic slang for foreign nationals (Grover 2018a). The term ‘trailing spouse’ has for some time been used in the context of global relocations. It is used mainly to describe women who accompany their husbands on transnational postings and expatriate assignments. The gendered phenomenon of wives who ‘trail along’ as dependent spouses may aptly complement country-specific local terminologies. For expatriate trailing spouses, the Indonesian visa, for instance, is designated ''kit swami'', meaning, ‘following the husband’ (Fechter 2007: 15). This visa does not allow women to accept employment (Fechter 2007: 15). It is often difficult to obtain a work visa as a ‘trailing spouse’ in many countries – including India.

|style="font-size:1.1em;"| Since the 1990s, when India opened its previously isolated economy to global markets, India has witnessed an influx of foreign nationals settling into its newly cosmopolitan cities. These include many citizens from Australia, East Asia, Europe and the United States. Cultural identities and terminologies such as ‘expatriate’ and ‘trailing spouse’ are now commonly invoked in the media and in cosmopolitan circles of the new growth economies such as India. ‘Expatriate’ is now a generic term for the white foreigner in a globalized India (Grover 2018a). Expatriates in India may also be referred to as ‘''gora'',’ a vernacular term for white people, as well as generic slang for foreign nationals (Grover 2018a). The term ‘trailing spouse’ has for some time been used in the context of global relocations. It is used mainly to describe women who accompany their husbands on transnational postings and expatriate assignments. The gendered phenomenon of wives who ‘trail along’ as dependent spouses may aptly complement country-specific local terminologies. For expatriate trailing spouses, the Indonesian visa, for instance, is designated ''kit swami'', meaning, ‘following the husband’ (Fechter 2007: 15). This visa does not allow women to accept employment (Fechter 2007: 15). It is often difficult to obtain a work visa as a ‘trailing spouse’ in many countries – including India.

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More specifically then, ‘trailing spouse’ signifies a married woman’s exclusion from the paid labour force in the host country. Trailing spouses have long been an invisible part of men’s global work performance. In the last decade, however, spouses’ well-being and adjustment have received more attention in the academic literature. Likewise, academic interest now sheds light on their everyday experiences in the host country. The practice of ‘trailing’ may also be considered as reinforcing historical and gendered informal practices. Trailing spouses often take primary responsibility for the household, the children’s care, and the emotional well-being of the family (Arieli 2007; Hindman 2013; Boström ''et al''. 2018.). Katie Walsh (2007: 64) accentuates these gendered outcomes by casting the net transnationally, writing that ‘Research on couples participating in flows of skilled migration has consistently identified the presence of more traditionally gendered divisions of labour within households, irrespective of nationality.’ With trailing spouses having to renegotiate the marital bond and the household division of labour, low self-esteem, anxiety and depression have been reported amongst these cohorts (Walsh 2007).

More specifically then, ‘trailing spouse’ signifies a married woman’s exclusion from the paid labour force in the host country. Trailing spouses have long been an invisible part of men’s global work performance. In the last decade, however, spouses’ well-being and adjustment have received more attention in the academic literature. Likewise, academic interest now sheds light on their everyday experiences in the host country. The practice of ‘trailing’ may also be considered as reinforcing historical and gendered informal practices. Trailing spouses often take primary responsibility for the household, the children’s care, and the emotional well-being of the family (Arieli 2007; Hindman 2013; Boström ''et al''. 2018.). Katie Walsh (2007: 64) accentuates these gendered outcomes by casting the net transnationally, writing that ‘Research on couples participating in flows of skilled migration has consistently identified the presence of more traditionally gendered divisions of labour within households, irrespective of nationality.’ With trailing spouses having to renegotiate the marital bond and the household division of labour, low self-esteem, anxiety and depression have been reported amongst these cohorts (Walsh 2007).