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Intersectionality and Transnationality as Key Tools for Gender-Sensitive Migration Research

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The Palgrave Handbook of Gender and Migration

Abstract

In most countries of the global North, the portrayal of migrants in public discourses is strongly influenced by stereotypical representations in which gender relations play a central role. For an appropriate analysis, insights from Gender Studies and from Migration Studies need to be taken into account. Both disciplines produce critical perspectives to deconstruct gender images in the context of migrant Othering. We argue that two paradigms, namely a transnational and an intersectional perspective, are necessary to provide these critical insights. This chapter deals with the question of how intersectional and transnational perspectives can be used for the analysis of gender relations in the context of migration processes. We start this article by providing an overview over (the development of) intersectionality as one of the most broadly discussed theories/methodologies in Gender Studies. We describe variations and disputes around its conceptualisation in the context of social inequality analysis and confront/combine them in the second part with transnational migration research which is currently an important theoretical frame in Migration Studies.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Migrant care givers are also found in huge numbers in hospitals, elderly homes or care centres for disabled and convalescents (Kigma, 2005).

  2. 2.

    http://decent-care-work.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Project-description_Decent-Care-Work.pdf.

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  1. Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany

    Helma Lutz

  2. University of Cottbus, Cottbus, Germany

    Anna Amelina

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  1. Helma Lutz
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  2. Anna Amelina
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Correspondence to Helma Lutz .

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  1. Center for Technological Society and Human Future, Universidad Mayor, Santiago, Chile

    Claudia Mora

  2. Queen Mary University of London, London, UK

    Nicola Piper

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Lutz, H., Amelina, A. (2021). Intersectionality and Transnationality as Key Tools for Gender-Sensitive Migration Research. In: Mora, C., Piper, N. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Gender and Migration. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63347-9_4

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