ABSTRACT
Although gender relations are often used in public discourse as a key concept for constructing (essentialized) binaries between receiving societies and (im)migrants, in the analysis the relationship between gender and migration is often overlooked and the application of an intersectional and transnational perspective is missing. Using the social constructivist turn in the field of gender studies as a starting point, the first chapter begins with a discussion of how the paradigm shift towards a social constructivist perspective on gender and migration makes it possible for scholars to illuminate highly complex gender relations that occur in the context of migration. The chapter highlights that theories of intersectionality provide the necessary tools to describe the interplay of categories such as gender, ethnicity/race, class, and sexuality: doing gender is situated in class relations; doing ethnicity is always gendered and always involves class attributes; identities are inscribed in intersections or axes of difference. In addition, this chapter describes how the newly emerging spaces of social transformation influence changing gender identities and gender arrangements. This particular discussion takes its theoretical basis from postcolonial studies and queer theory, which have identified a wide variety of intersecting aspects of diversity.
