ABSTRACT
Most Oxford Pakistanis initially viewed migration as a means of improving their socio-economic status ‘at home’, and to this end, a father, brother or other close relative often sponsored a man's migration. Thirty or so years on, to what extent have migrants been successful in this respect and how have their ideals changed? Migrants view and assess socio-economic status through wealth, property ownership, type of occupation and an ashraf (respectable) lifestyle. Labour migration has enabled most Oxford Pakistanis to build better houses, extend their landholdings and to provide better dowries for their daughters' and sometimes their brothers' daughters' weddings. Some migrants have established businesses and others have also moved to the cities in Pakistan. These changes are often linked with maintaining or adopting an ashraf lifestyle, and, in a few cases, this desire for social mobility may be expressed through the marriage of a daughter into a family of ashraf caste status. However, as Pakistanis themselves point out, the vast majority of marriages take place within the caste and within the birādarī. To what extent do these marriages also represent strategies for social advancement, or are other processes or considerations involved?
