Belonging against the National Odds: Globalisation, Political Security and Philippine Migrant Workers in Israel

Abstract

This article looks at the experiences of Filipino migrant workers in Israel to argue that a conceptual reliance upon notions of political security and formal political activity has overstated the relevance of changing national identity among migrants in globalised times. The political conditions linked to the transformation of migrant national identity appear to be absent in the Philippines–Israel case. Officially, there is no general system for permanent residency or political incorporation in Israel for non-Jewish foreign workers. Yet research amongst Philippine workers show that some Filipinos develop attachments to elements of their lives in Israel despite episodes of substantial political and economic insecurity. New belongings arise from multiple social and political contradictions impacting Filipino workers in Israel. These derive in part from the different migration careers of Philippine workers over globalised time, shaped by modulating Philippine and Israeli migrant labour regimes amid wider social and political contexts. To understand new belongings, more emphasis should be placed on everyday processes beyond formal politics. However, incipient belongings do not yet signal the development of new progressive coalitions which could address Israeli state domination over Palestinian populations