Towson University College of Graduate Studies and Research
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TOWSON UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF GRADUATE STUDIES AND RESEARCH TRANSNATIONAL CONNECTIONS AND PERSONAL TIES: THEORIZING THE PHILIPPINE OVERSEAS FOREIGN WORKER EXPERIENCE by Jennifer Hardy A thesis Presented to the faculty of Towson University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Science January 2012 Towson University Towson, Maryland 21252 © 2012 By Jennifer Hardy All Rights Reserved ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my thesis committee for their support and encouragement throughout graduate school and this project. I especially thank my advisor Celia Bardwell Jones for cheering me on and providing helpful critiques. And to Matt – words aren‘t enough. Thank you. iv ABSTRACT Transnational Connections and Personal Ties: Theorizing the Philippine Overseas Foreign Worker Experience Jennifer Hardy This thesis examines the Philippine overseas foreign worker (OFW) experience through a lens of connection, a new framework. A platform of connection situates the individual OFW as the authority of her experience and explores the connections she identifies as significant values and/or attachments. The framework is rooted in theories of home, travel, and a politics of location, and is employed here to examine written cultural productions by and about OFWs. Source text includes fiction from the collection Mga Hibla ng Pangarap (―Strands of Dreams‖) and non-fiction from bloggers who entered the Pinoy Expat Blog Awards (PEBA) competition from 2008- 2011. These cultural productions detail connections that flow across miles and throughout life changes. These connections reveal a wider migration narrative that is individuated, complex, and emotional, yet is inextricably entwined with broad forces such as globalization and the Philippine government. v TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures ............................................................................................................ vii Introduction and Method ........................................................................................... 1 Theoretical Framework: Theory of Connection ...................................................................... 1 Methodology ......................................................................................................................................... 6 Chapter One: Theoretical Frameworks of Transnational Migration .................... 9 Paradigms of connection ................................................................................................................. 9 Agency in a globalized world ....................................................................................................... 13 Weaving a theoretical framework: Travel, home and the politics of location .......... 19 Travel ............................................................................................................................................................... 19 Politics of Location ..................................................................................................................................... 22 Home ................................................................................................................................................................ 26 Uniting theoretical paradigms in a framework of connection ........................................ 31 Conclusion: Employing a Framework of Connection to Theorize the Transnational Migrant Experience ......................................................................................................................... 36 Chapter Two: “When we bend, it hurts” – personal connections of the OFW ... 38 Children ............................................................................................................................................... 40 Spouse/Partner/Significant Other ............................................................................................ 44 Extended Family............................................................................................................................... 51 Faith ...................................................................................................................................................... 56 Self ......................................................................................................................................................... 62 Conclusion: Toward a Holistic Interpretation of OFW Personal Connections .......... 69 Chapter 3: Connections to technology as a means of understanding connections to the nation-state and globalization ....................................................................... 71 Connection to and through Technology .................................................................................. 72 Connection to the Philippines and the Nation-State ........................................................... 82 Connection to Globalization and Global Citizenship ........................................................... 91 Conclusions: Connections in a Global Context....................................................................... 96 Conclusions ................................................................................................................ 97 Bibliography ............................................................................................................ 100 Curriculum Vitae .................................................................................................... 105 vi LIST OF FIGURES All figures, except where noted, were submitted as part of the PEBA (Philippine Expat Blog Awards) 2011 photo competition ―Where the Heart Is.‖ All captions to the images retain the spelling and punctuation from the original submissions. Raymond Llanda, Saudi Arabia “Where My Heart Is" .............................................. 45 Jezreel Del Espiritu Santo, Saudi Arabia "Love You To The Core" ........................... 45 Raymond Ramos, United Arab Emirates "Living in God's Heart" ............................. 57 Mandrake Palabay, Myanmar "Faith.Love.Home" .................................................... 57 Aldwin Macatangay, South Korea "Bible" ................................................................. 58 Raymond Ramos, United Arab Emirates "Diary"....................................................... 63 Diary ni Gracia, Kuwait "Diary ni Gracia" ............................................................... 63 Jeffrey Monzon, Saudi Arabia "Solitude" ................................................................... 64 Ponciano Santos, Saudi Arabia "Home Sweet Room" ................................................ 64 Lourdes Manuzon-Torrefiel, Qatar "A Silent Friend" ................................................ 65 Nikki Ferrer, Saudi Arabia "Mobile Access" .............................................................. 74 Beverly, United Arab Emirates “Ambuklao Lake and Esepe in Bakod” (selection from public Facebook album) ............................................................................................. 78 Mark Brian Caidic, Saudi Arabia "The Light Is What Guides You Home" ................ 84 vii 1 Introduction and Method Filipino overseas foreign workers (OFWs, alternatively shorthand for overseas Filipino workers) navigate a unique situation among global labor migrants. They are viewed by the Philippine government as a valuable source of economic input, and thus are encouraged to heroically make personal sacrifices for the good of both their family and country. Officially OFWs are encouraged to leave the Philippines but maintain loyalty to the motherland, to live separately from family to care for them. Many researchers have studied and theorized this migration phenomenon, orchestrated and marketed by a government trying to improve its own economy within the hierarchy of global capitalism. Government officials initiate this vast overseas employment endeavor, but it is not without cost: approximately 9 million Filipino children (27% of the youth population) are growing up with at least one parent absent due to migrant labor (Parreñas 2005b, 317). Theoretical Framework: Theory of Connection There are multiple theoretical locations from which to explore OFW experiences. This thesis introduces, defines, theorizes, and then utilizes a new approach to interpret the OFW experience: a framework of connection. The theory considers individual OFWs‘ connections to explore the migration experience. Connections encompass a diverse range of attachments and values, and can include objects, relationships, memories, affiliations, and other internal and external entities. 2 The term ―connection‖ as defined in this thesis refers to the attachments and values that are important to OFWs, as expressed by OFWs and their close relational ties. A theory of connection involves discovering the connections (attachments and values) individual OFWs articulate as significant and gleaning insight into the migration experience through analysis of those connections. The theory can be used in conjunction with several research methods; this thesis employs a cultural studies methodology and examines written representations of connection authored by OFWs and OFW supporters. A theory of connection, articulated and explored in this thesis, creates a framework for understanding the migration experience of OFWs. Such an approach is necessary in light of polarized depictions of OFWs, with the Philippine government touting OFWs as heroes and others, such as