Date Available
12-14-2011
Year of Publication
2007
Document Type
Dissertation
College
Arts and Sciences
Department
Geography
First Advisor
Wolfgang Natter
Abstract
This project offers a multifaceted, interdisciplinary approach to understanding the contemporary post-Soviet Internet bride phenomenon and the rationales, motives, and aspirations of the industry's participants. As international marriage services have incorporated information and communications technologies (ICTs) to assist in the marketing of women of post-communist nations for correspondence courtship with Western men, the industry has furthered the globalization of marriage markets and the opportunities for communicative exchange among disparate nations and cultures. By way of case study, the project takes a special focus on the Belarusian/American segment of the industry, turning to personal interviews with participants and employing qualitative techniques to dissect marketing methods. The study gives primary consideration to processes and elements of globalization, postmodern consumer culture, and aspects of human sexuality (particularly sexual exchange theory), recognizing their interactive and mutually-constitutive nature that calls for their analysis through a Baudrillardian lens.
Recommended Citation
Begin, Michael Paul, "VIRTUAL' BRIDES IN THE POST-SOVIET CONTEXT" (2007). University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations. 511.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/gradschool_diss/511
