Abstract
This paper examines the intersections between sexuality and citizenship in the context of cross-border marriage migration in Kutch, Gujarat. It suggests first, that contemporary cross-region marriage migration must be located within the larger political economy of such marriages, and should take into account the historical trajectories of marriage migration in particular regions. To this end it examines three instances of cross-region marriage migration in Kutch: pre-colonial royal marriages with Sindh, nineteenth century marriages between merchants from Kutch and women from Africa and the Persian Gulf, and finally contemporary marriage migration into Kutch from Bengal and Sindh. Second I ask, what do contemporary debates over citizenship, nationality and intimacy share with similar debates that have occurred before? What does a comparative study of marriage migration tell us about the state’s deployment of sexuality in the construction of the citizen as it identifies some women to be more worthy than others to be admitted into the fold of the nation-as-family? And finally, what does this do to a presumed distinction between the ‘public’ and the ‘private’ when it comes to matters of sex and the state?
Bio
Farhana Ibrahim is Associate Professor in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Delhi.