Negotiating Male Migration: The Experience of Women in Goa

Abstract

When males migrate for better prospects how do women negotiate domestic and public spheres in the absence of men? What are the impacts of male migration on women left behind? The paper explores the multiple and complex dimensions of the term impact, criss-crossing the social, psychological and economic dimensions.

Goa has a long history of male migration among Catholics both on shore and off shore. Using case histories from women in Cuncolim village in Goa, the paper examines and attempts to understand the various ambivalent processes that make up the multiple coping strategies among women. It also suggests that male migration may or may not provide emancipator potentials for women, though the co-operation of women is critical for the migration of males. The paper also demonstrates the changes in the gender relation both at the personal and social level that are inaugurated by male migration.