ABSTRACT
Most weakly developed within studies of gender and migration has been the postmodern feminist approach. This can be explained partly by the relative lack of work overall and, indeed, it is probably wise that academic interest has not sought to deconstruct gender in the context of migration before its significance at varying degrees of generalization for ‘men’ and ‘women’ has been demonstrated and detailed. Nevertheless, there are developments within migration research which are in line with some of the tenets of post-modern feminism. For example, there is increasing recognition of the sheer diversity of women’s experiences regarding migration, explained not just in terms of conventional categories, such as class and age, but also acknowledging culture, personality and individuality. More generally, talk of the structuration of gendered migration speaks, on the one hand, of the construction of gendered identities associated with standpoint feminism but, on the other hand, of the variable significance of the socially constructed category ‘gender’ within migration. Furthermore, the biographical approach to migration research suggests much future potential work in this area, with emphasis being given to the highly contextual (in the non-trivial sense) development of actions such as migration.
