Husain Abhar R 2015 Phd.Pdf
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
SPIRITED WOMEN TELL THEIR STORIES: A STUDY OF BANGLADESHI FEMALE TEMPORARY MIGRATION TO THE MIDDLE EAST ABHAR RUKH HUSAIN A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY GRADUATE PROGRAM IN GENDER, FEMINIST & WOMEN’S STUDIES YORK UNIVERSITY TORONTO, CANADA NOVEMBER, 2015 © Abhar Rukh Husain, 2015 ABSTRACT This dissertation draws on the stories of 34 Bangladeshi women who went to seven Middle Eastern countries, including United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, Lebanon and Jordan, as temporary workers during 1995-2010. I interrogate their interactions with migration brokers and employers and offer a complex understanding of their migration journey. My understanding adds to the structural aspect of their migration journey by highlighting the social context of rural Bangladesh from where these women migrate. I argue a nuanced view of these women’s engagement with migration brokers from their social and familial circles and their conduct with their employers in Middle East requires a critical consideration of Bangladeshi rural realities. Understanding their behaviour in terms of their rural origins leads to feminist insights into power attentive to social context. By linking a macro- structural lens of power to a feminist meso lens of power in this dissertation, I comprehend their situation with brokers and employers in a nuanced manner and complicate dominant ways of understanding their migration journey. My approach bridges a feminist critical understanding of power relations and a macro-structural understanding of power relations between women and other institutional actors, including migration brokers and employers in women’s migration journey. This study generates feminist knowledge by utilizing the methodological approach of Grounded Theory. From a feminist epistemological point of view, this knowledge is particularly important as it is generated by marginalized/ disenfranchised Bangladeshi women and uses their otherwise unappreciated perspectives as the basis of knowledge creation. ii DEDICATION To those in my family whose unconditional love, support and encouragement made this project possible: my parents, Shahanara Husain and A.B.M. Husain; my brothers, Rayhan Mehdi Husain and Dr. Muin Husain; my aunt Hasna Begum; my lifelong teacher and mentor, Professor Sanat Kumar Saha, Economics, Rajshahi University, Bangladesh; and my husband, Steve Johnson. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the members of my supervisory committee. This dissertation is the outcome of your sincere support and mentorship. In every stage of this project, my supervisor Professor Tania Das Gupta has been an excellent friend, teacher and mentor to me. She has never lost her patience, always believed in me, and has consistently provided me with her intellectual support. Her academic approach encouraging the bridging of theory and activism greatly motivated me to pursue my PhD endeavour. I am ever grateful to her. Professor Jan Kanier`s thought-provoking comments on my writing has been very useful to develop this dissertation throughout various stages of the writing process. Her cheerful personality I have found to be particularly inspiring. The insightful critique and feedback of Professor Luin Goldring induced me to take care of the interdisciplinary character of this dissertation. She has intellectually challenged me in different directions and also pointed to alternative venues whereby I could proceed to address her challenge. I am highly thankful to Professors Goldring and Kainer for their critical feedback. Also, I would like to thank the members of my examination committee and all the faculty members of the Graduate Program in Gender, Feminist, and Women’s Studies. Special thanks go to Lindsay, Sue and Celida − the wonderfully compassionate and supportive staff members of the Graduate Program in Gender, Feminist, and Women’s Studies. A number of peers and friends from York University were especially supportive while I was working on my dissertation. Veronika Novoselova and Marshia Akbar provided unconditional friendship by cheering me up during critical stages of the writing process. My friend Caroline Hodes provided me with much intellectual support throughout the writing stages. Not only that she encouraged me with my ideas, she also pointed me to new ideas and provided iv insightful comments on my ideas. The numerous telephone conversations and personal meetings I had with her over dinner or tea were all very helpful. During the final stages of my writing, I especially needed her support. I am highly thankful to her. I am extremely grateful to Dr. Elizabeth Thompson for the excellent editing skills she brought to bear on each version of this dissertation. Without her support, I cannot imagine how I would have finished. Last but not least, my most heartfelt thanks goes to all those who supported me with my fieldwork in Bangladesh. To all my research participants, the Middle East returned Bangladeshi women: I will remain ever grateful to you. I hope to systematically bring your hitherto unheard voices into the public discourse. It is my goal to have sown the seeds required to push policy makers in Bangladesh to ensure a migration policy that will address the institutional problems associated with Bangladeshi women’s temporary migration. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ii Dedication iii Acknowledgments iv Table of Contents vi List of Tables viii Chapter One: Introducing the Research 1 1-Overview 1 2-Setting the Research Background 6 3-Women’s Situation and Struggle: Feminist Understanding of Power 10 4-Organization of the Chapters 19 Chapter Two: Methodology and Fieldwork 21 1-Introduction 21 2-Feminist Methodology and Grounded Theory 21 2.1 Reflexivity 27 2.2 Positionality 30 2.3 Voice and Representation 32 3- Fieldwork and Data Collection 34 3.1 The Sample and its Characteristics 40 3.2 Data Analysis 44 4- Reflections from Fieldwork 45 4.1 Experiences and Challenges of Fieldwork 45 4.2 Feminist Negotiation with Fieldwork Challenges 51 5-Conclusion 52 Chapter Three: Literature Review 54 1-Introduction 54 2- Migration Brokers and Temporary Workers’ Recruitment in Asia 55 2.1 Broker Operating as a Recruiting Agency 57 2.2 Broker Operation within Social Relations with Prospective Migrants 61 2.3 Broker Operation within State, Market and Prospective Migrant Relationship 66 3- Migrant Domestics’ Conduct and Negotiations with Employers in Destination 73 Chapter Four: Setting the Stage: Bangladeshi Women’s Migration to the Middle East 88 1-Introduction 88 2- Background and Context of Overseas Migration from Bangladesh 88 2.1 Migration from Bangladesh: Past and present 91 3- Arrangement of Bangladeshi temporary migration abroad 96 3.1 Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) 96 3.2 Bangladesh Overseas Employment Services Limited (BOESEL) 98 3.3 Private Recruiting Agencies and Sub-Agents 99 3.4 Informal Contacts 101 vi 4-Migration of Bangladeshi Women 103 5-Conclusion 115 Chapter Five: Brokers and Bangladeshi Women’s Migration to the Middle East 117 1-Introduction 117 2- Brokers in the Recruitment and Relocation of Bangladeshi Women 118 2.1 Economics of Recruitment 123 2.2 Why do Bangladeshi Women use Dalals? 127 3- How do Bangladeshi Women and Dalals Engage? 136 4-Conclusion 141 Chapter Six: Bangladeshi Women and their Employers in the Middle East 142 1-Introduction 142 2-Live-in Domestic Workers 144 2.1 One of the Family? 155 2.2 Emphasis on Individual Conduct and Character 159 3-Stories of Unauthorized Workers 161 4-Tales of Struggle of Seven Domestics in Lebanon 168 5-Conclusion 180 Chapter Seven: Making Sense of Women’s Tales 181 1-Introduction 181 2-Bangladeshi Women and Migration-brokers: Implications of Engagement 181 3-Bangladeshi Women and their Employers in the Middle East: Implications of Women’s Conduct with Employers 189 4-Bangladeshi Women, Migration Brokers and Employers in the Middle East: A Feminist Insight into Power following Women’s Migration 197 Chapter Eight: Conclusion 202 1-Introduction 202 2-Summary of Key Findings 203 3-Significance of Findings 206 4- Other Contributions (Contributions to the Literature) 213 5- Concluding Thoughts: Future Research Directions 215 References 217 Appendices 248 Appendix A: Glossary of Non-English (Bangla and Arabic) Terms 248 Appendix B: Map of Bangladesh Showing Female Informants’ Origin 249 Appendix C: Note on Appendix B 250 Appendix D: Statistics on Bangladeshi Female Migration (2004-2011) 251 Appendix E: Diagram: Visa Collection and Recruitment of 34 Bangladeshi Women 252 Appendix F: Female Interview Guide 253 vii LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Types and numbers of interviews, conversations and focus groups 37 Table 2: Returned migrant women 42 Table 3: Individuals who assisted women in their migration 120 viii Chapter One Introducing the Research 1-Overview My doctoral dissertation unravels the complexities and nuances of Bangladeshi female temporary workers’ migration from Bangladesh to the Middle East, an ongoing process that began in the 1990s to meet an increasing demand for temporary labourers, primarily domestic workers but also garment/factory workers and cleaners (Blanchet, Razzaque, & Biswas, 2008; Siddiqui, 2001). Historically, although instances of labour migration of males from Bangladesh can be traced across 200 years of colonial subjection, first under the British (1757-1947) and then the Pakistani (1947-1971), women remained