ABSTRACT
Southeast Asian women's marriages and relationships with foreign men constitute a rising phenomenon on a global scale. In family and migration studies, there is a diversity of terms to depict marriages between two individuals of different nationalities and ethnicities: intra- or interethnic marriages, mixed marriages, cross-border marriages, international marriages, transnational marriages, 'mail-order' marriages, binational marriages, and so on. The literature exploring marriage in the migration context and migration in the context of marriage has been increasing in recent years. In the case of international marriages, Ricordeau observes the 'international policing of women', which comes out at several levels: the augmentation of bans concerning international marriages, the intensification of controls targeting women in sending and receiving countries, and the rising social stigmatization of intermarried women. The impossibility to access citizenship through the marriage channel in some countries prompts some migrant women to adopt strategies allowing them to enjoy some social entitlements. Finally, this chapter presents an overview of this book.
