Open AccessLeela Gulati. In the Absence of their Men: The Impact of Male Migration on Women. New Delhi: Sage Publications. 1993. x+174 pp. Hardback. Indian Rs 200.00.
Author(s) -
Soofia Mumtaz
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
pakistan development review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.154
H-Index - 26
ISSN - 0030-9729
DOI - 10.30541/v34i2pp.168-170
Subject(s) - wife , middle east , narrative , new delhi , work (physics) , gender studies , history , sociology , geography , political science , demography , law , art , metropolitan area , archaeology , mechanical engineering , literature , engineering
Among the neighbouring countries of South and South-East Asiawho responded to the demand for labour following the oil price hike inthe Middle East in 1973, India had sent out an estimated 75600 workersas migrants to the Middle East by 1987. Of these, 30100 workers hadmigrated from Kerala alone (Appendix I on p. 147 ofthis book shows).Gulati's book sketches the profiles of ten such households. The book isa simple and direct narration of the effects on the women left behind onaccount of the absence of the men of their households who went to workin Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Kuwait from the mid-seventies. The analysisis based primarily on the biographies of the wives of ten migrants. Theconsequences of migration are assessed with reference to otherfamily-members of the migrant as well, particularly women other than thewife (i.e., mostly the mothers and sisters).