The “Mama Mary” of the White City’s Underside

Mapping the ‘home’: A literature review on Filipino migration and diaspora

“…Similarly, Liebelt (2014) did an ethnographic study of Filipina workers in Israel who customarily perform block rosary as a way of 'homemaking' as well as imploring personal and familial afflictions and sanctifications. Migrant workers perceived the performance of the religious practice not just as an assertion of their faith, but a mechanism that guides them through their diasporic journeys and experiences while working in a foreign land far away from their family and loved ones.…”

“…Hence, it seemed to be a new focus for migration and diaspora studies. Realistically, some of these academic writings were centred on Filipino migrant workers: the meaning and concept of Balikbayan (Blanc, 1996); a background of Filipino diaspora (E. S. Juan, 2011); migrant workers' construction of imagine global community (Parreñas, 2001); the 'care crisis' among Filipino migrant mothers (Parreñas, 2002); migratory narratives of Filipino migrant workers in the United States and the dichotomy of migration (Francisco, 2009); background on the beginning of scholarly discourses on Filipino diaspora (Aguilar, 2015); the labour migration narratives of housemaids in Hong Kong, their political activism and the various challenges arising while performing work duties (Constable & Pai, 2009); Filipino migrant workers' political activism (Rother, 2009); background of Philippine migration and diasporic philanthropy (Garchitorena, 2007); global capitalism and the challenges of Filipino diaspora (Juan, 2011); the national government's effort in promoting labour migration to its citizens and the construction of migration as a concept in the Philippine society (Lusis, 2007); the cosmopolitanism and reintegration of returning migrant workers (Soco, 2015); the reassimilation of elderly Filipino immigrants to cultural communities (Tiamzon, 2013); the intersection of migration, masculinities, and familial responsibilities among Filipino seafarers (McKay, 2015); the identity negotiation of Filipino migrants in Japan (Tigno, 2008); the selfempowerment of migrant Filipino workers in Israel through a migrant magazine (Kama, 2008); migrant Filipinos' socialisation, belongingness and cultural identity through religious affiliation in the Middle East (Johnson et al, 2010); Filipina migrant workers' religious practices and diasporic journeys in Israel (Liebelt, 2014); private and public spaces (employer's house/balconies and churches) in the host countries as places of forging work-based alliances and familial relationships (Pande, 2014); religious conversions of migrant workers in the Middle East as means of social interaction, affection ties and community integration (Hosoda & Watanabe, 2014); the susceptibility of women workers in Lebanon to different types of abuses and their resistance (Pande, 2014); the different facets of migratory challenges among migrants and migrant workers in the Gulf …”

Mary and Migrant Communities

“…Although the meaning of Marian devotion for migrant communities has been amply documented (e.g. Orsi 1985;Tweed 1997;Skrbis 2007;Brown 2011;Eade and Kroto l 2012;Notermans 2012;Liebelt 2014) and an increase in post-migration religiosity has been recognized worldwide, little attention is paid to the ways religious practices from pre-and post-migration locations merge in migrants' religious lives. Little attention is also paid to exactly how migrant women devote their post-migration life to Mary, build a professional track as Marian specialists and, while doing so, become key gures in (transnational) migrant communities.…”