Cardiff University | Prifysgol Caerdydd ORCA
Online Research @ Cardiff 
WelshClear Cookie - decide language by browser settings

'For her protection and benefit': the regulation of marriage-related migration to the UK

Carver, Natasha 2016. 'For her protection and benefit': the regulation of marriage-related migration to the UK. Ethnic and Racial Studies 39 (15) , pp. 2758-2776. 10.1080/01419870.2016.1171369

[thumbnail of For her Protection and Benefit GREEN.pdf]
Preview
PDF - Accepted Post-Print Version
Download (602kB) | Preview

Abstract

This paper argues that a two-tier system has evolved dividing intra-UK/EU marriages from extra-UK/EU marriages. For the former, marriage is a contract between two individuals overseen by a facilitating state. For the latter, marriage has become more of a legal status defined and controlled by an intrusive and obstructive state. I argue that this divergence in legislating regulation is steeped in an ethnicized imagining of ‘Britishness’ whereby the more noticeably ‘other’ migrants (by skin colour or religion) are perceived as a threat to the national character. The conceptualization of women as legally ‘disabled’ citizens (1870 Naturalisation Act) for whom a state must act as responsible patriarch, is a fundamental part of this imagining of the nation. The paper therefore examines the social (gendered and ethnicized) assumptions and political aims embedded within the legislation.

Item Type: Article
Date Type: Published Online
Status: Published
Schools: Law
Publisher: Taylor & Francis (Routledge): SSH Titles
ISSN: 0141-9870
Funders: ESRC
Date of First Compliant Deposit: 22 March 2018
Date of Acceptance: 10 March 2015
Last Modified: 06 Nov 2023 21:13
URI: https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/108262

Citation Data

Cited 12 times in Scopus. View in Scopus. Powered By Scopus® Data

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item Edit Item

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

View more statistics