INTERSECTIONAL DIS/CONTENTS IN MIGRATION: THAI WOMEN IN BELGIUM, BELGIAN MEN IN THAILAND

ABSTRACT

The scholarly literature on highly gendered migration phenomena has widely documented how dis/contents – dis/satisfaction with certain aspects of life – can propel people to move out of their countries and pursue their projects abroad. Once in their receiving countries, these individuals undergo several challenges and personal adjustments contingent on their differing social positions in global reproductive system/s. This process accompanies dis/contents at the intersection of individuals’ multiple identities. Why and how do dis/contents take shape? How do women and men deal with them? Drawing from two qualitative studies conducted within a span of eight years in Belgium (2012-2015) and in Thailand (2018-2023) respectively, this presentation brings to the fore the intersectional dis/contents of Thai women in Belgium and their Belgian men counterparts in Thailand. Although the study participants highlight the advantages they get from migration, they emphasize some dissatisfactions. The former (mostly marriage migrants) lament about family-related issues and labour market incorporation, whereas the latter (mostly retired men) complain about immigration policies and social security matters. Through the lens of intersectionality, these dis/contents appear not only gendered but also generational (age) and classed. They also stem from larger structural forces, pinpointing the contextuality of intersectional dis/contents in migration.