Chasing Fate & Fortune in the Borderland: Cross-Border Marriage & Migration at the Malaysian-Thai Frontier
This article examines the feminization of migration at the Malaysian-Thai frontier through the lens of cross-border marriages between Malaysian men and Thai women (predominantly of Malay ethnicity). Based on long-term ethnographic fieldwork conducted in the Malaysian city of Kota Bharu, Kelantan, it...
Tallennettuna:
| Julkaisussa: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/archipel, |
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| Päätekijä: | |
| Aineistotyyppi: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Kieli: | eng |
| Julkaistu: |
Archipel
2021
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| Linkit: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
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openedition-oai:revues.org:archipel_2647 |
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openedition |
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openedition-oai:revues.org:archipel_2647 https://doi.org/10.4000/archipel.2647 urn:doi:10.4000/archipel.2647 eng https://journals.openedition.org/archipel/2647 2021-12-14T01:00:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess article info:eu-repo/semantics/article urn:handle:20.500.13089/a1zf https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Chasing Fate & Fortune in the Borderland: Cross-Border Marriage & Migration at the Malaysian-Thai Frontier Archipel Association Archipel info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/2104-3655 info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/0044-8613 URI:https://journals.openedition.org/archipel Razif, Nurul Huda Mohd. This article examines the feminization of migration at the Malaysian-Thai frontier through the lens of cross-border marriages between Malaysian men and Thai women (predominantly of Malay ethnicity). Based on long-term ethnographic fieldwork conducted in the Malaysian city of Kota Bharu, Kelantan, it explores the migration process as a hopeful endeavor in seeking “fortune” in several senses of the word: employment and economic prospects (Mal. rezeki), and opportunities for marriage (Mal. jodoh, or “fated union”). Second, it illustrates how Thai women’s reported use of magical means such as love magic and sorcery in their search for jodoh and rezeki inspires both fear and desire among Malays. Thai women’s seductive and supernatural prowess, I argue, constitutes a crucial but understudied capital for navigating a precarious labor and marriage market where their employability and (sexual) desirability overlap, allowing them to subvert existing narratives of female cross-border marriage migrants as victims of precarity. Cet article examine la féminisation de la migration à la frontière entre la Malaisie et la Thaïlande, au prisme des mariages transfrontaliers entre hommes malais et femmes thaïlandaises, principalement d’ethnie malaise. Partant d’un travail de terrain ethnographique de long terme mené dans la ville malaisienne de Kota Bharu (Kelantan), l’article explore le processus de migration en tant qu’effort plein d’espoir à la recherche de la « fortune » dans différents sens du terme : emploi et perspectives économiques (mal. rezeki), et opportunités de mariage (Mal. jodoh, ou « union avec l’âme-sœur »). Par ailleurs, il illustre l’utilisation par les femmes thaïlandaises de moyens magiques tels que les charmes d’amour et la sorcellerie dans leur quête du jodoh et du rezeki qui inspirent à la fois peur et désir aux Malais. Les prouesses de séduction et de surnaturel des femmes thaïlandaises constituent, selon moi, un capital essentiel mais peu étudié pour naviguer sur un marché précaire du travail et du mariage, où leur employabilité et leur désirabilité (sexuelle) se chevauchent, ce qui leur permet de renverser les récits existants sur les femmes migrantes mariées à l’étranger comme victimes de la précarité. |
| collection |
OpenEdition Journal |
| language |
eng |
| format |
Article ou chapitre numérique |
| building |
0/Bibliothèque numérique/ 1/Bibliothèque numérique/OpenEdition Journals/ |
| description |
This article examines the feminization of migration at the Malaysian-Thai frontier through the lens of cross-border marriages between Malaysian men and Thai women (predominantly of Malay ethnicity). Based on long-term ethnographic fieldwork conducted in the Malaysian city of Kota Bharu, Kelantan, it explores the migration process as a hopeful endeavor in seeking “fortune” in several senses of the word: employment and economic prospects (Mal. rezeki), and opportunities for marriage (Mal. jodoh, or “fated union”). Second, it illustrates how Thai women’s reported use of magical means such as love magic and sorcery in their search for jodoh and rezeki inspires both fear and desire among Malays. Thai women’s seductive and supernatural prowess, I argue, constitutes a crucial but understudied capital for navigating a precarious labor and marriage market where their employability and (sexual) desirability overlap, allowing them to subvert existing narratives of female cross-border marriage migrants as victims of precarity. |
| author |
Razif, Nurul Huda Mohd. |
| spellingShingle |
Razif, Nurul Huda Mohd. Chasing Fate & Fortune in the Borderland: Cross-Border Marriage & Migration at the Malaysian-Thai Frontier |
| author_facet |
Razif, Nurul Huda Mohd. |
| author_sort |
Razif, Nurul Huda Mohd. |
| title |
Chasing Fate & Fortune in the Borderland: Cross-Border Marriage & Migration at the Malaysian-Thai Frontier |
| title_short |
Chasing Fate & Fortune in the Borderland: Cross-Border Marriage & Migration at the Malaysian-Thai Frontier |
| title_full |
Chasing Fate & Fortune in the Borderland: Cross-Border Marriage & Migration at the Malaysian-Thai Frontier |
| title_fullStr |
Chasing Fate & Fortune in the Borderland: Cross-Border Marriage & Migration at the Malaysian-Thai Frontier |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Chasing Fate & Fortune in the Borderland: Cross-Border Marriage & Migration at the Malaysian-Thai Frontier |
| title_sort |
chasing fate & fortune in the borderland: cross-border marriage & migration at the malaysian-thai frontier |
| publisher |
Archipel |
| publishDate |
2021 |
| container_title |
URI:https://journals.openedition.org/archipel |
| url |
https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://doi.org/10.4000/archipel.2647 https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://journals.openedition.org/archipel/2647 |
| _version_ |
1877293364566556672 |