ABSTRACT

Transnational marriages involving wives mainly from the Amhara Region, Ethiopia, and migrant husbands from abroad have been common in the region ever since the 1990s, resulting in compound effects on the socio-economic order in Amhara. The article analyses how transnational marriage is envisaged by women in Amhara and has a negative affect on their lives. The analysis is based on triangulated data collected through interviews, focus group discussions, observations, and document analysis. It has been consistently theorised that transnational marriages and the opening up of the marriage market for women has created a scarcity of wives that negatively affects the lives of men in migrants’ origin countries. The study reveals the broad effects of transnational marriages on the gender dynamics in Amhara. The author concludes that the success related to transnational marriages and subsequent remittances creates a fragile negotiation power among women seeking migrant husbands and abandons many women as singletons and single mothers, thereby contributing to the social ethos of unmarried women and of single-parent families. Given the patriarchal conventions in Amhara, abandonment constitutes much more complicated psychosocial effects. Abandoned women suffer stigma and neglect, another constituent characterising the social ills created by transnational marriages.

摘要

自 1990 年代以来，主要涉及埃塞俄比亚阿姆哈拉地区的妻子和来自国外的移民丈夫的跨国婚姻在该地区很常见，对阿姆哈拉的社会经济秩序产生了复合影响。文章分析了阿姆哈拉妇女如何看待跨国婚姻并对她们的生活产生负面影响。该分析基于通过访谈、焦点小组讨论、观察和文件分析收集的三角数据。一直以来的理论认为，跨国婚姻和女性婚姻市场的开放造成了妻子的稀缺，这对移民原籍国的男性生活产生了负面影响。该研究揭示了跨国婚姻对阿姆哈拉性别动态的广泛影响。作者得出结论，与跨国婚姻和随后的汇款相关的成功在寻求移民丈夫的妇女之间形成了脆弱的谈判能力，并使许多妇女放弃单身和单身母亲，从而促进了未婚妇女和单亲家庭的社会风气。鉴于阿姆哈拉的父权制习俗，遗弃构成了更为复杂的社会心理影响。被遗弃的妇女遭受耻辱和忽视，这是跨国婚姻造成的社会弊病的另一个特征。鉴于阿姆哈拉的父权制习俗，遗弃构成了更为复杂的社会心理影响。被遗弃的妇女遭受耻辱和忽视，这是跨国婚姻造成的社会弊病的另一个特征。鉴于阿姆哈拉的父权制习俗，遗弃构成了更为复杂的社会心理影响。被遗弃的妇女遭受耻辱和忽视，这是跨国婚姻造成的社会弊病的另一个特征。