Teen Brides, Migrant Husbands and Religious Schooling

In many Muslim communities across South Asia, children and adolescents access education through religious institutions such as madrassa. When analysing the impact of madrassa on gender equity empowerment, scholars downplay feminist criticism these basis that even non-religious schools promote traditional roles in global south. Some research Bangladesh explains ‘modernised’ or government-recognised madrassa, where students learn secular academic topics addition to Arabic Quranic verses, help boost female educational attainment conservative communities. addition, often resist other local practices early marriage name understanding non-Western norms ideals. Based ethnographic fieldwork remote villages northern Bangladesh, this paper analyses schooling young women’s everyday lives perspectives experiences brides who are married labour migrant men. have attended school while others I attempt understand how their backgrounds informed views roles. article, contest claim can facilitate rural agency. argue advocating for modernised is problematic, unless conflicting impacts unrecognised/traditional agency acknowledged.