Paper short abstract:

This paper addresses the connection between invested consumption and partner search of Malagasy women in touristic settings.

Paper long abstract:

This paper aims to discuss the existing literature on the mobility patterns of Malagasy women seeking foreign partners as a part of the global political economy of sex. Specifically, it focuses on how societal imaginaries about sexuality, desire, and monetization shape the strategies of these women in their search for potential partners. This contribution will examine how these women navigate the risks associated with such investments and how their search may fall into the grey area of prostitution and conventional dating opportunities. The overall goal is to understand the anthropological aspects of sexual consumption, tourism, and the interactions between Malagasy women and European men in touristic hotspots in Madagascar.