Marriage, migration, and markets: International matchmaking and international feminism

This dissertation is an overview of international matchmaking. The study clarifies previously unexplained patterns of international marriage migration by revealing links between feminism and international marriage. This project is a comparative study of Slavic and Filipino women migrating to marry American men. The thesis is that the international marriage market is an indicator of global feminism. This thesis addresses theoretical gaps in prevailing accounts of the international marriage market.; Using the grounded theory method for qualitative analysis, I address four broad questions in order to explore the thesis about marriage markets and international feminism. (1) How have the U.S. government and the sending countries responded to this migration phenomenon? (2) What arguments are used by businesses or organizations to encourage or discourage bride migration? (3) How do the men and women who participate in this matchmaking industry explain their own motives? (4) What accounts for the growing popularity of Russian and Ukrainian women as "mail-order brides"?; The research was conducted through interview-based fieldwork in the Philippines, Russia, Ukraine, and the United States. Three categories of interviewees included (1) government and non-governmental employees with an interest in monitoring or regulating immigration that takes place through matchmaking channels; (2) matchmaking business owners and staff; (3) men and women participating in the international introduction industry.; Major findings include new information about the marriage industry. This dissertation demonstrates that the matchmaking industry is unlikely to be linked to fraud and abuse in ways previously thought. This study found that the allegedly suspicious nature of men who seek foreign wives is not borne out by any substantial documentation or research. This study also found that the differences between the Slavic and Philippine matchmaking industries suggest that previous feminist research may have misunderstood some basic causes and consequences of matchmaking.; Spousal and fiance(e) entrants, generally considered to be neither political nor economic migrants, have customarily fallen outside scholarly bounds. The international matchmaking industry and the immigrant flows it generates are shown in this dissertation to be relevant to practical and academic considerations regarding gender, migration, and international studies.