Transnational Activism for Migrant Workers: Examining the Struggles for Domestic Workers in Hong Kong

The thesis aims to examine the transnational activism conducted by the Filipino activists for migrant workers particularly foreign domestic workers in Hong Kong. The context of globalization which saw greater interconnectedness of peoples and its neo-liberal content which brought about civil society groups in various parts of the world to oppose the agenda, have facilitated the growth of transnational mobilization toward the movement for ¿globalization from below.¿ The developing nations¿ subscription to the neo-liberal agenda has resulted in their greater poverty and the subsequent migration of their workers to affluent destinations. Migrant workers experience various difficulties as a result of the shortcomings of the sending and receiving states to safeguard their welfare; hence, the imperative for transnational activism to address relevant concerns at both ends of the migration spectrum. As the transnational activism aims to address an issue brought about by the excesses of the neo-liberal ¿globalization from above,¿ the study therefore aims to contribute to the further understanding of the contours of the movement for ¿globalization from below.¿ Specifically, the thesis aims to address the following questions: How and why did the Filipinos able to develop the transnational activism in Hong Kong? How did the activists sustain the political action? What were the outcomes of the activism and what would account for these? The research utilized the frameworks used to explain the classic social movement agenda explicating the mobilizing structures, opportunities in the political environment, and framing processes to galvanize support for the political action, in addressing these questions. The thesis will argue that how the activists take advantage of and create opportunities in the political environment as well as their capability to implement effective mobilizing strategies circumscribe the emergence and development of the political action. Moreover, the thesis introduced the conceptual model of ¿interacting sites of contention¿ where the link between the Philippines and Hong Kong as settings of activism is illumined. With this model, it is illustrated that the activism for migrant workers in Hong Kong was a product of the contentious politics in the homeland where the Filipino activists who spearheaded the founding of the NGOs in the territory were active in social justice issues in the home country. The political action in Hong Kong is likewise linked to the Philippines where the homeland constitutes a necessary target of activism in view of the understanding that the root cause of the problematic labor migration lies in the deficient governance at home. The activists in Hong Kong collaborate with their counterparts in the Philippines to address specific migrant-related policy concerns as well as in challenging the framework of development promoting labor migration to augment state revenues including the state¿s subscription to neo-liberal policies that exacerbate poverty and consequently the workers exodus abroad in search of better livelihood.

Author dc:creator

• MA. GLENDA LOPEZ WUI

• migrant workers, domestic workers, female migration, transnational, activism, globalization