Neither Heroines nor Victims: Women Migrant Workers and Changing Family and Community Relations in Nepal

Abstract

This paper attempts to move beyond the simple heuristic dichotomisation of the interpretation of migration as a potentially liberating and transformatory experience or as a negative one whereby migration is yet another layer added to the multiple oppression. Their experiences reveal how the migratory experience is harnessed for (re)negotiating their role in their families and communities and challenge societal taboos as well as the stigma and mystification that accompany women’s mobility and independence.