Migration Experiences of the “Trailing Wives” of Professional and Highly Skilled NRI's in Durban,KwaZulu Natal

Abstract

This paper is based on research among a group of 20 Indian national women, the so-called ‘trailing wives’ of professional and highly skilled NRI's (non-resident Indians) residing in Durban, KwaZulu Natal. Borrowing from Radhakrishnan's (2008) notion of ‘global Indianness’ and the role of diasporic women in embodying the cultural ideals of Indian family life, the study is grounded in a transnational and social networks approach (Wellman, 1984; Lauringand Selmar, 2010). Traditional literature on expatriate workers is preoccupied with the migrant's work experience and more specifically, tends to construct highly skilled migrants as individual economic actors, neglecting the family that accompanies them. However, more recent studies acknowledge the impact a ‘trailing spouse’ may contribute to the transnational experience (Louring & Selmer, 2010; Gupta, Banerjee, & Gaur, 2012). Expatriate employees and their spouses can face multiple challenges in the relocation process, including a lack of support from employers, leaving family and friends behind, adapting to a host society, and the difficulty of raising children where traditional support structures do not exist. By casting an anthropological lens on the diverse forms and functions of social ties and networks the families of highly skilled migrants create, the embodied reality of migration is foregrounded.