Cross-Border Marriages and Marriage Migration

Abstract

Abstract With the advent of globalization, family diversity is further advanced by the rates of marriage migration, which are rising in Europe, the Americas, and most prominently in South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, and other countries of Northeast Asia. Hélène Le Bail explores the geography and routes of cross-border marriages along with the positive and adverse consequences of this trend. She highlights the contradictory discourse surrounding cross-border marriages, which on one hand is seen as a cultural threat to a homogenous society, and on the other hand as a favorable solution to declining fertility rates in places such as South Korea, where public policy now lends support to the “multicultural family.”