African-Australian Marriage Migration

African-Australian Marriage Migration Synopsis

In African-Australian Marriage Migration: An Ethnography of (Un)happiness, Henrike A. Hoogenraad follows journeys of marriage migration among African-Australian couples. The study narrates these journeys as 'happiness projects' since for cross-border couples, happiness is connected to dreams for a life-long partnership that begins with the visa application. Yet, happiness is invoked as an aspired state rather than an achieved goal. The obstacles of government bureaucracy, institutional and everyday racism, and unrealistic expectations of romance prevent the hoped-for happy endings. This monograph upsets a 'scam artist' narrative that generalises migrant men and their sponsoring partners, and which obscures the difficult process of crossing borders both physical and intimate. Hoogenraad's work is a welcome contribution to anthropological literature on marriage migration.