Bartered Bridegrooms

This book explores the experiences of Muslim men born and raised in Pakistan and Kashmir who migrate after marrying British Pakistani nationals. The book particular focuses on the impact of migration and marriage on their masculinity. ‘A fascinating and beautifully written exploration of an under-researched issue – the lives of young Muslim men who migrate to marry. This book is a powerful addition to recent scholarship of masculine identities in post-colonial Britain.’ Linda McDowell, Professor, St John’s College, Oxford‘Taking full advantage of her insider-outsider status, Suriyah Bi introduces the reader to a side of Pakistani migration to the UK that has not been studied before. Bi’s rich, sensitive, and hard-won ethnography includes moving testimonies and demonstrates how colonial legacies and contemporary immigration law reach right into the heart of the transnational household.’ David N. Gellner, Professor, University of Oxford ‘This fascinating book is both cutting-edge and vital, with real-life implications for Muslim communities and for British society as a whole. A must-read for social scientists of gender, migration, Islam, and South Asia, as well as immigration experts in Europe and beyond.’ Marcia C. Inhorn, Professor, Yale UniversityThis eye-opening ethnography traces the experiences of Muslim migrant husbands from Pakistan and Kashmir who marry British Muslim partners in the pursuit of both love and global social mobility. For many, the parallel and intertwined migration and marital journeys do not pan out in the way they had hoped; many experience precarity, vulnerability and even violence within the household and in employment. Migrant husbands navigate an increasingly hostile British immigration system, not only in public but also in private, at the hands of their wives and in-laws. This book demonstrates how citizenship can be deployed as a performance of white power within a single group identity, differentiated through colonial legacies of ‘Britishness’. In this eye-opening ethnography, we learn about the experiences of Muslim migrant husbands from Pakistan and Kashmir, who marry their British counterparts in the hope of marital and global social mobility bliss. For many, the parallel and intertwined migration and marital journeys do not pan out in the way they had hoped. Many experience precarity and vulnerability within the household and/or in employment, with some even being subjected to harrowing forms of domestic violence. Migrant husbands navigate an increasingly hostile British immigration system not only in public but also in private, at the hands of their wives and in-laws. The ethnography demonstrates how citizenship can be deployed as a performance of white power within single group identity, differentiated through colonial legacies of ‘Britishness’.