Making Home in Diasporic Communities: Transnational Belonging Amongst Filipina Migrants

Description

Making Home in Diasporic Communitiesdemonstrates the global scope of the Filipino diaspora, engaging wider scholarship on globalisation and the ways in which the dynamics of nation-state institutions, labour migration and social relationships intersect for transnational communities. Based on original ethnographic work conducted in Ireland and the Philippines, the book examines how Filipina diasporans socially and symbolically create a sense of 'home'. On one hand, Filipinas can be seen as mobile, as they have crossed geographical borders and are physically located in the destination country. Yet, on the other hand, they are constrained by immigration policies, linguistic and cultural barriers and other social and cultural institutions. Through modalities of language, rituals and religion and food, the author examines the ways in which Filipinas orient their perceptions, expectations, practices and social spaces to 'the homeland', thus providing insight into larger questions of inclusion and exclusion for diasporic communities. By focusing on a range of Filipina experiences, including that of nurses, international students, religious workers and personal assistants, Making Home in Diasporic Communitiesexplores the intersectionality of gender, race, class and belonging. As such, it will appeal to scholars of sociology and anthropology as well as those with interests in gender, identity, migration, ethnic studies, and the construction of home. Cover Title Copyright Contents List of illustrations Series editor’s preface Acknowledgements Permissions Introduction 1 Conceptualising home and diaspora 2 Landscapes of dislocation 3 ‘Our noses will bleed and then we die’: using language as a borderland strategy 4 ‘Hey! Are you Filipino?’: adapting rituals, religion and routine 5 ‘As long as you have your food, you feel at home’: eating, gathering and socializing 6 Romanticising the homeland 7 Working towards home References Appendix A: Profile of participants Appendix B: Interview questions Appendix C: Notes on terminology Index