Transnational marriage networks for intra-Asian circuit of mobilities, investment and development: Vietnamese marriage migrant women’s investments in Vietnam

Abstract

This paper introduces the case of marriage migration into the debate on the intra-Asian circuit of capital flow, human mobilities and urban and regional development. While intra-Asian marriage migration lies at the intersection of governmental policy, increased capital flow and human mobilities, it has been absent from the discussion on capital flows within the global East. Employing ethnographic research methods, we explain how Vietnamese marriage migrants in South Korea and their Korean husbands restyled their remittances to invest in land and businesses in hometowns, the Mekong Delta area and big cities through transnational marriage networks. Explanations for what caused marriage migrants’ position to evolve include a discussion of macro-politics of political and economic reforms in South Korea and Vietnam and the micro-politics of transnational networks. By demonstrating the roles of transnational marriage networks, this research contributes to the debates on migration-developmentmobility circuit.