Religion and Gender in Repatriate Families: A Comparative Analysis of the Adaptation of Traditional Roles in Asian Countries

Abstract

The study examines how religious prescriptions, family law, and economic constraints shape the redistribution of gender roles in repatriate families under reverse mobility. It identifies mechanisms for adapting traditional roles at the household level and factors behind cross-country variation. Using a comparative design with institutional analysis, content analysis of normative acts, and administrative statistics, the research highlights four cases. Kazakhstan shows early codification of repatriation and legacies of traumatic 20th-century migrations; Kyrgyzstan is marked by cyclical labour mobility and the special status of ethnic migrants; India has a multi-level diaspora infrastructure and stable external employment regulation; the Philippines demonstrates institutionalised foreign employment and organised channels of departure and return. Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan display idealised traditionalism alongside expanding women’s economic autonomy. India reconciles egalitarian attitudes acquired abroad with extended-family hierarchy. The Philippines sees economic role inversion but formal male leadership. These changes are context-dependent and combine continuity with specific redistributions of authority.