Transnational Migration Theory in Population Geography: Gendered Practices in Networks Linking Canada and India Margaret Walton-Roberts* Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Wilfrid Laurier University, 75 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3C5, Canada INTRODUCTION G eographers have commented on the absence of dialogue between population geography and social theory (White and Jackson, 1995; Graham, 1999; Graham and Boyle, 2001). More recently Bailey (2001) has suggested that transnational migration theory can con- tribute to the development of a ‘critical popula- tion geography framework’ (2001: 424). What might such a critical population geography look like? In this paper I consider this issue in three ways. Firstly I consider why geographers, and in particular population geographers, have been late to engage with transnational concepts, and secondly, I highlight how gender has been under- played in the transnationalism literature. Thirdly, I draw upon examples from my research on immigrant networks between Canada and India to highlight how processes of marriage are influ- enced by the presence of extensive transnational influences which may maintain and reinforce gendered hierarchies of power. I suggest that attention to a gendered transnational migration theory can contribute to the development of a critical population geography. BRINGING A TRANSNATIONAL FOCUS TO HUMAN GEOGRAPHY: OVERCOMING SUBDISCIPLINARY BOUNDARIES Since the early 1990s, several scholars, particu- larly anthropologists, have found the concept of transnationalism useful for understanding the socio-spatial structure and role of immigrant networks (Rouse, 1991; Basch et al., 1994). This POPULATION, SPACE AND PLACE Popul. Space Place 10, 361–373 (2004) Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI: 10.1002/psp.343 Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. ABSTRACT Geographers have recently suggested that transnational migration theory can contribute to the development of a critical population geography. What might such a critical population geography look like? In this paper I explore this in three ways. Firstly I offer some comments on why geographers have been slow to adopt a transnational focus on migration, and secondly I examine how gender has been underplayed in transnational literature. Thirdly I draw upon some examples from research on transnational immigrant networks between Canada and India. I focus on the specifics of Punjabi marriage migration networks to demonstrate how the practice of spousal selection has become globalised for certain diasporic communities. These examples offer a preliminary illustration of what a critical population geography, attuned to issues of gendered transnational processes, might contribute to current debates. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Received 11 November 2002; revised 13 November 2003; accepted 13 November 2003 Keywords: gender; immigration; marriage; Punjab; India; Canada; transnational *Correspondence to: M. Walton-Roberts, Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Wilfrid Laurier University, 75 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3C5, Canada. E-mail: mwalton@wlu.ca