Marco Z. Garrido
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- January 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780226643007
- eISBN:
- 9780226643281
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226643281.003.0008
- Subject:
- Sociology, Social Stratification, Inequality, and Mobility
Chapter 6 argues that the middle class see themselves as besieged not just territorially but electorally. On the one hand, they see the poor as political dupes, able to be fooled and bought by ...
More
Chapter 6 argues that the middle class see themselves as besieged not just territorially but electorally. On the one hand, they see the poor as political dupes, able to be fooled and bought by unscrupulous politicians. On the other, they see themselves as possessing moral authority over the poor by virtue of their greater education and autonomy from political inducements. They see themselves, in short, as possessing a greater right to govern. The problem is, they are outnumbered and thus, in an electoral system, outvoted in cases of candidates whose appeal cuts along class lines. The chapter shows how a situation of electoral siege has informed their political calculations with respect to both the populist president Joseph Estrada and his successor Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. It highlights the frustration many middle-class informants feel toward democracy.Less
Chapter 6 argues that the middle class see themselves as besieged not just territorially but electorally. On the one hand, they see the poor as political dupes, able to be fooled and bought by unscrupulous politicians. On the other, they see themselves as possessing moral authority over the poor by virtue of their greater education and autonomy from political inducements. They see themselves, in short, as possessing a greater right to govern. The problem is, they are outnumbered and thus, in an electoral system, outvoted in cases of candidates whose appeal cuts along class lines. The chapter shows how a situation of electoral siege has informed their political calculations with respect to both the populist president Joseph Estrada and his successor Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. It highlights the frustration many middle-class informants feel toward democracy.
Robyn Magalit Rodriguez
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- August 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780816665273
- eISBN:
- 9781452946481
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Minnesota Press
- DOI:
- 10.5749/minnesota/9780816665273.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Migration Studies (including Refugee Studies)
Migrant workers from the Philippines are ubiquitous to global capitalism, with nearly 10 percent of the population employed in almost two hundred countries. In a visit to the United States in 2003, ...
More
Migrant workers from the Philippines are ubiquitous to global capitalism, with nearly 10 percent of the population employed in almost two hundred countries. In a visit to the United States in 2003, Philippine president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo even referred to herself as not only the head of state but also “the CEO of a global Philippine enterprise of eight million Filipinos who live and work abroad.” The book investigates how and why the Philippine government transformed itself into what it calls a labor brokerage state, which actively prepares, mobilizes, and regulates its citizens for migrant work abroad. Filipino men and women fill a range of jobs around the globe, including domestic work, construction, and engineering, and they have even worked in the Middle East to support U.S. military operations. At the same time, the state redefines nationalism to normalize its citizens to migration while fostering their ties to the Philippines. Those who leave the country to work and send their wages to their families at home are treated as new national heroes. Drawing on ethnographic research of the Philippine government’s migration bureaucracy, interviews, and archival work, the book presents a new analysis of neoliberal globalization and its consequences for nation-state formation.Less
Migrant workers from the Philippines are ubiquitous to global capitalism, with nearly 10 percent of the population employed in almost two hundred countries. In a visit to the United States in 2003, Philippine president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo even referred to herself as not only the head of state but also “the CEO of a global Philippine enterprise of eight million Filipinos who live and work abroad.” The book investigates how and why the Philippine government transformed itself into what it calls a labor brokerage state, which actively prepares, mobilizes, and regulates its citizens for migrant work abroad. Filipino men and women fill a range of jobs around the globe, including domestic work, construction, and engineering, and they have even worked in the Middle East to support U.S. military operations. At the same time, the state redefines nationalism to normalize its citizens to migration while fostering their ties to the Philippines. Those who leave the country to work and send their wages to their families at home are treated as new national heroes. Drawing on ethnographic research of the Philippine government’s migration bureaucracy, interviews, and archival work, the book presents a new analysis of neoliberal globalization and its consequences for nation-state formation.
