Docile Housewives or Empowered Entrepreneurs? Gender, Fraud and Victimization Risks in the Context of Family-Related Migration in Germany Universität Hamburg Fakultät für Wirtschafts-und Sozialwissenschaften Dissertation Zur Erlangung der Würde der Doktorin der Wirtschafts-und Sozialwissenschaften (gemäß der PromO vom 24.August 2010) vorgelegt von Julia Rushchenko aus Kharkiv Hamburg 2016 Datum der Disputation: 19.01.2016 Prof. Dr. Christine Hentschel, Professor - WiSo Vorsitz/Gutachterin Prof. Dr. Torsten Heinemann, Juniorprofessor - WiSo Gutachter Prof. Dr. Francois Kristen, Hochschullehrer - extern Gutachter Prof. Dr. Richard Staring, Hochschullehrer - extern Gutachter PD Dr. Nils Zurawski, Privatdozent - WiSo Gutachter The degree is awarded as part of a Joint Doctorate with Utrecht University This thesis was accomplished with financial support from the European Union’s Education Audiovisual and Cultural Executive Agency’s Erasmus Mundus Scheme ii CONTENTS SUMMARY ....................................................................................................................................................... VI ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .............................................................................................................................. X 1.1. BACKGROUND OF THE RESEARCH: CRIMINAL MANIPULATIONS OF MARRIAGE AGENCIES VS. THE STORY OF TRANSNATIONAL ROMANCE IN UKRAINE ..................................................................... 1 1.2. SOCIETAL AND ACADEMIC RELEVANCE OF THE TOPIC ........................................................................ 6 1.3. RESEARCH QUESTIONS & RESEARCH FOCUS ............................................................................................ 8 1.4. IMPORTANCE OF DISCOURSE ON BI-NATIONAL MARRIAGES IN GERMANY .................................. 9 1.5. OUTLINE OF THE DISSERTATION ................................................................................................................ 11 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................. 13 2.1. INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................................. 13 2.2. CONCEPTUALIZING THE TERM “MAIL-ORDER” BRIDE IN THE CONTEXT OF INTERNATIONAL DATING AND MARRIAGES ....................................................................................................................................... 14 2.3. WHAT IS BEHIND THE SCENE? TRYING TO GRASP THE “MAIL-ORDER” BRIDE PHENOMENON: LEGAL VS. ETHNOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVE ...................................................................... 17 2.4. GENDER, RACE, MASS MEDIA, AND COMMODIFICATION ................................................................. 23 2.5. SECURITIZATION OF MIGRATION AND BI-NATIONAL MARRIAGES: "BONA FIDE” OR “FRAUDULENT” UNIONS? ....................................................................................................................................... 27 2.6. BRIDES, GROOMS, AND EXPECTATIONS FROM OVERSEAS: CAPITALS IN THE FIELD OF TRANSNATIONAL MARRIAGE .............................................................................................................................. 32 2.6.1. Erotic Capital in Transnational Matrimonial Field ........................................................................ 36 2.7. SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................................................ 40 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................................. 43 3.1. INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................................. 43 3.2. RESEARCH APPROACH, RESEARCH FOCUS AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS ..................................... 43 3.3. EPISTEMOLOGY ............................................................................................................................................... 45 3.3.1. Interpretivism & constructivism................................................................................................................ 46 3.3.2. Social constructionism and phenomenology....................................................................................... 46 3.4. METHODOLOGY AND CULTURAL CRIMINOLOGY ................................................................................ 47 3.4.1. Virtual ethnography vs. offline ethnography: Methodological assumptions and Practice ............................................................................................................................................................................................... 49 3.4.2. Ethnographic research in cooperation with NGOs: Advantages and ethical barriers .... 53 3.4.3. In-depth interviews .......................................................................................................................................... 63 3.4.4. Extended case study ........................................................................................................................................ 67 3.4.5. Analysis of documents ................................................................................................................................... 69 3.4.6. Validity, reliability and triangulation ..................................................................................................... 70 3.5 SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................................................. 71 CHAPTER 4: FOREIGN SPOUSES IN GERMANY: “MIXED” COUPLES IN HISTORICAL AND LEGAL PERSPECTIVES ................................................................................................................. 75 4.1. POST-WAR GERMANY AND MARRIAGE MIGRATION ........................................................................... 75 4.2. FAMILY REUNIFICATION NOWADAYS: GEOGRAPHICAL AND GENDER REPRESENTATION .. 78 4.3. LEGAL STATUS OF MARRIAGE MIGRANTS IN GERMANY: RECENT TRANSFORMATIONS ..... 81 4.4. DIVORCE AMONG “MIXED” MARRIAGES IN GERMANY ..................................................................... 85 4.5. SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................................................ 87 CHAPTER 5. WHO IS INVOLVED IN THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF ABUSE? ......... 89 5.1. INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE AND MIGRANT WIVES: HOW ARE THE ATTITUDES SHAPED? .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 89 5.2. FEMALE MIGRANTS IN ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIPS: WOMEN’S NARRATIVES ........................... 91 5.2.1. From Victimhood to Empowerment and Back ................................................................................... 91 5.2.2. Bi-polarity or Abuse? ..................................................................................................................................... 95 5.2.3. “Thanks, but no thanks!” ............................................................................................................................ 98 iii 5.3. GENDER, CULTURE AND POLITICAL ECONOMY .................................................................................. 100 5.4. FEMALE MIGRANTS IN ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIPS: PERSPECTIVES OF NGO WORKERS AND THE RISKS OF ABUSE .............................................................................................................................................. 102 CHAPTER 6: FRAUDULENT TECHNIQUES OF MARRIAGE MIGRANTS AND POLICING OF NON-CITIZENS REGARDING FAMILY REUNIFICATION........................ 107 6.1. SHAM MARRIAGES AMONG BI-NATIONAL COUPLES: GLOBALIZATION AND MIGRATION CONTROL .................................................................................................................................................................... 107 6.1.1. Family values in the West and companionate marriage: A requirement for bi-national couples .............................................................................................................................................................................110 6.1.2. “Remember, Ksusha, you only like blue” ...........................................................................................116 6.1.3. Marriage investigations in action ...........................................................................................................119 6.2. SOLIDARITY MARRIAGE AS A LEGALIZATION STRATEGY: BETWEEN KINDNESS AND CRIME? ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 121 6.2.1. Gabriela, irregular migration and marriage .....................................................................................122 6.2.2. “Schutzehe” and German background ................................................................................................125 6.3. SHAM PATERNITY AND INTERRELATIONS OF VICTIM AND PERPETRATOR .............................. 132 6.3.1. “Anchor child” and Germany ..................................................................................................................132