Bartered Bridegrooms

Suriyah Bi is a Senior Lecturer in Human Geography at the University of Cardiff

• Introduction1 Transnational masculinity: the making of patriarchal aspirations across borders2 Liminal masculinity: waithood, precarity and vulnerable migrant husbands3 Reasserting masculinity: ‘Songs of Sorrow’ as practices of resistance 4 Spiritual masculinity: Sufi-scapes, Sabr, and religiosocial capital 5 Decolonising Muslim men: gender, race, and colonialism Conclusion References

'This fascinating book explores the ways in which Pakistani migrant husbands negotiate their masculinity in a situation in which they are doubly vulnerable, both as racialized migrant Muslims and as junior males inserted into patriarchal extended family households. The research is both cutting-edge and vital, with real-life implications for Muslim communities and for British society as a whole. A must-read for social scientists of gender, migration, Islam, and South Asia, as well as immigration experts in Europe and beyond.'Marcia C. Inhorn, Yale University'A fascinating and beautifully written exploration of an under-researched issue – the lives of young Muslim men who migrate to marry. This book is a powerful addition to recent scholarship revealing the complexities and contradictions of masculine identities in post-colonial Britain.'Professor Linda McDowell, St Johns College, Oxford'Taking full advantage of her insider-outsider status, Suriyah Bi introduces the reader to a side of Pakistani migration to the UK that has not been studied before. Husbands from Pakistan who arrive in the UK to marry British Pakistani wives find themselves disempowered and often exploited. Bi’s rich, sensitive, and hard-won ethnography includes moving testimonies and demonstrates how colonial legacies and contemporary immigration law reach right into the heart of the transnational household. Bartered Bridegrooms is an important contribution to understanding how migration, gender, generation, and religion intersect and interact.'David N. Gellner, Professor of Social Anthropology, University of Oxford