Renegotiation of Gender Identities in Transnational Spaces

This book critically examines the renegotiation of gender identities in the transnational space by focusing on foreign students of African origin at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban South Africa. The transnational migration of students is a vast yet under-researched area with most studies focusing on skilled and unskilled foreign immigrants. Further, an examination of gender in a transnational context continues to be a much neglected domain. Gender is salient in migration because not only do gender relations facilitate or constrain both men's and women's movements but they also structure the whole migration process including practices and the construction of self. The transnational experience of studying outside their home country and constant negotiations of new social and cultural environments provides students with an opportunity to either challenge or reinforce their perspectives of gender. By exploring the complexities involved in negotiating the transnational space, this book seeks to highlight ways in which gender shapes migratory flows and how migration shapes gender relations.