Home is Another Country: Ethnic Identification in Philippine Homeland Tours

Abstract

Using data based mainly on 29 in-depth interviews with participants from three Philippine homeland tours, I conceptualize the process of ethnic identification through homeland tourism more precisely as the adoption of strategies aimed at symbolically demarcating grounds for informants' belonging in the Philippines as Americans. This conceptualization highlights ethnic identification as a problem, one that must be "worked on" insofar as claims to ethnic identity must be substantiated. It is also a problem insofar as this work of belonging is displaced and misrecognized. In working to establish a connection with the homeland, I argue that my informants are working out their belonging in America within the terms of distinction set by multiculturalism.

Migrants on Home Visits: Memory, Identity and a Shifting Sense of Self

“…Generational differences in the actual experience of the homeland journey have also been found in various other international studies, although the specific perceptions and attitudes are contingent on many factors that differ from case to case (e.g. Hughes & Allen, ; Baldassar, ; Garrido, ).…”

“…Various other case studies similarly highlight ethnically, culturally or nationally specific factors (e.g. O'Flaherty, Skrbis, & Tranter, ; Hughes & Allen, ; Garrido, ).…”

Towards decolonising tourism and hospitality research in the Philippines

“…Despite being overshadowed, these locally contextualised forms of inquiry were noteworthy. For example, Filipino sociological concepts and theoretical frameworks were embedded in an exploration of the experiences of Filipino home-coming tourists from the US (Garrido, 2010), and of New Zealand-based Filipinos hosting visiting relatives (Capistrano & Weaver, 2017). Using local literature, Galán (2009) was able to construct the destination image and authenticity of the country's summer capital, Baguio City.…”

Transnationalism, emotion and second‐generation social mobility in the Filipino‐Canadian diaspora

“…In most cases, the stage at which youth return in order to encounter the Philippines with an attitude of cultural pride or activist fervour are more likely to come only later in early adulthood (e.g., see Pratt, 2008b). Whether pride or shame is elicited, or a combination of both, the visit to the 'homeland' is deeply influential in the construction of an ethnic identity back in North America (Garrido, 2011). Aside from first-hand experiences of the Philippines, youth are also exposed to mainstream media portrayals of the diasporic homeland.…”

“…In some respects this is true, but evidence also suggests that subsequent generations do engage in active transnationalism, albeit in patterns that are dependent on socio‐economic class and life‐cycle stage (Levitt & Waters, ). Second‐generation transnationalism might take varied forms including visits, social media connections and career trajectories (Levitt, ; Garrido, ; Haikkola, ).…”