Navigating co-ethnic boundaries in the Global East: How Taiwanese marriage migrants manage the emotional–linguistic regime in Singapore
Journal
Migration Studies
Journal Volume
14
Journal Issue
3
ISSN
2049-5838
2049-5846
Date Issued
2026-06-15
Author(s)
Wan, Tsung-Lun Alan
Abstract
This article examines the migration narratives of Taiwanese women married to Chinese Singaporean men, analyzing their experiences through the lens of the “emotional–linguistic regime” in the Global East. Challenging prevalent Global North/South migration models, we draw on thirty-eight in-depth interviews to explore how hierarchy is constructed in the absence of explicit socio-economic disparities. We argue that “hypergamous positioning” is manufactured along the axis of linguistic differentiation, enforced by disciplining the migrant’s emotional responses to linguistic regimentation. Consequently, hypergamy functions as a disciplining ideology even without visible markers of difference. In response, migrants actively negotiate this regime by utilizing the rise of China and the presence of co-ethnic People’s Republic of China (PRC) migrants as strategic resources. First, migrants leverage Mandarin proficiency to re-negotiate professional identities, thereby resisting deskilling and the imposition of hypergamous subordination. Second, we demonstrate how the presence of PRC migrants serves as a “comparative Other,” allowing Taiwanese women to develop emotional coping mechanisms to deflect the regime’s stigmatization. We also address alternative possibilities that lie beyond these two strategies, illustrating the complexity of migrant responses. The study thus illuminates how language and emotion co-constitute the mechanics of governance and resistance in a Global East marriage migration context.
Subjects
co-ethnicity
Global East
marriage migration
Singapore
Taiwan
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Type
journal article