Unveiling Gender Regimes from the Ground up: Insights from Transnational Conjugalities

Intimate encounters now occur on a global scale, extending matrimonial recruitment beyond borders, particularly between Western and non-Western regions (Williams 2010). Transnational families are therefore not only defined by members spread across nation-states but also by individuals forming new family units with host country residents. Within these transnational conjugalities, globalized power dynamics – anchored in gender, race, nationality and class – play a significant role and permeate the intimate sphere (Beck & Beck-Gernsheim 2013). How do couples navigate these power dynamics? Do they challenge or reinforce them? To what extent can we rely on individuals’ experiences to document societal rules and norms? Drawing on the literature, my previous research on French-Post-Soviet intimacies and ongoing investigations into transnational conjugality in West Africa, I argue that the concept of gender regimes serves as a heuristic tool for understanding the challenges and potential of transnational relationships. Gender regimes refer to the specific rules and norms each nation develops to organize gender relations, which are intertwined with other power relations like race and class. These norms are historically and geographically situated and constantly evolving, albeit slowly. In transnational conjugalities, these gender regimes often come into confrontation, as the members bring different backgrounds and gender norms into their relationships. This can create liminal spaces where gender and power relations may be renegotiated. At the same time, their experiences are influenced by the dominant norms of the country of settlement. Through their transnational conjugal and migratory experiences, the members elaborate comparisons and reveal gender regimes operating “here” and “there”. Understanding gender regimes through the lens of individual’s’ experiences in transnational conjugalities illuminates how intimate experiences are shaped by global and local power dynamics, while also contributing to their transformation. By examining these dynamics, we gain insight into the transformation of intimacy at the global stage.