Mail-order Brides:

The book offers important insights into the transformation of transnational courtship. Specifying the poly-semantic variety of the latter concept and an overview of dichotomous perspectives in social scientific and political activist studies, the author clarifies major characteristics of the history, revenues, and information and communication technologies of the mail-order bride industry. Y. Zabyelina focuses on an extremely important issue, which usually is not considered as an international communication problem. Yet, she has clearly shown, how ICTs and website marketing have transformed and enormously expanded the scope and profitability of mail-order bride agencies. She has also sketched how this development re-enforces various inequalities and prejudices on a transnational scale. On the basis of the still rather limited research done before and of her own empirical analysis, she has contributed to enlightening one of the dark sides of the otherwise mainly praised internet communication revolution. - Dr. Peter Ludes, Ph.D. (USA), Professor of Mass Communication, School of humanities and Social Sciences, Jacobs University Bremen, Germany