Abstract
In Migrant Returns, Eric J. Pido contributes to transnational scholarship by revealing how return migrants are important sources for funding the economy and public infrastructure in their nations of origin. Through a multi-sited ethnography in both the Philippines and the United States, Pido illuminates the ways in which balikbayans, a privileged group of Filipino migrants who have acquired foreign citizenship and permanent status abroad, return as tourists and retirees. Together, state agencies and private investors work to draw overseas Filipinos to visit their homeland, invest in property, and, for some, retire in the Philippines. The author uses the concept of the balikbayan economy as an analytical tool to conceptualize migration as a process of continued connectivity, rather than a singular act of movement. In doing so, he reveals the ways in which the Philippine state continues to exploit the labor and capital of Filipino migrants as a means of maintaining the country’s role within the global economy. In examining the various agents and interests associated with the balikbayan economy, Migrant Returns reveals the multi-scalar nature of the connection between public infrastructure and private enterprise, bridging macro-level political and economic processes with the micro-level ambivalence felt by balikbayans upon their return.
Throughout the book, Pido shows that balikbayans play a multifaceted role in the Philippine economy. For one, the Philippine state relies heavily on migrants to invest a portion of their wages in high-priced property throughout Metro Manila. In addition, Pido shows how the state via government entities such as the Philippine Retirement Authority encourages balikbayans to return to the Philippines by targeting nationalist sentiments and encouraging them to come back as caretakers responsible for the economic well-being of their homeland. Balikbayans thus serve as foreign investors that channel funds into real estate development, tourists that return to their homeland, and retirees that come back for the well-being of their homeland. As such, they are asked to take up the role of producing public infrastructure throughout the Philippines.
Pido highlights how the balikbayan economy shapes balikbayans themselves in several contradictory ways that reveal the complex emotions associated with return. Balikbayans often view their homeland with a sense of nostalgia, but they can also feel like foreigners in a homeland that drastically changed while they were abroad. Meanwhile, balikbayans are viewed by other Filipinos as caretakers who continue to support the Philippines through remittances and return visits, but also as traitors who abandoned their home country. As balikbayans confront the ambivalence associated with their return, they come to see the Philippines as both home and a place of threat. For instance, they may see other Filipinos not only as fellow countrymen but also as potential threats who will take advantage of the balikbayans due to perceived class differences. As such, Pido reveals how some return migrants are unprepared to relinquish the lifestyle to which they became accustomed in the United States and desire to leave the Philippines. While scholars have touched upon the discomfort migrants feel upon returning to their country of birth, Pido goes a step further and reveals how these contradictions surprisingly serve a productive purpose for the balikbayan economy. Balikbayans seek additional accommodations as a means of separating themselves from the multitude of poor Filipinos in the Philippines, especially security and residences separated from the general population. In this way, Pido reveals how balikbayans mark the distinctions between themselves and poor Filipinos in the country, furthering the rampant inequality that already exists.
This dense and carefully argued book contributes to research on globalization and migration by revealing the ways in which the state capitalizes on migrants’ notions of home and return. By examining the relationship between the Philippine government, real estate corporations, and balikbayans, Pido succeeds in mapping out the economic and political interests behind migrants’ decision to return. One of the most alluring aspects of Migrant Returns is Pido’s expert ability to consistently reveal how home is not simply a single, physical space. Rather, the conception of home is a process made up of linkages that can fluctuate across place. In redefining home, Pido challenges notions of integration, return migration, and transnational connectivities. Finally, he expertly uses multisite ethnography to reveal how the decision to return is not simply the product of a single event but instead an emotionally complex process made up of continuous linkages. Migrant Returns captures the multiple dimensions associated with return migration and serves as a valuable resource for those interested in transnationalism, globalization, and migration scholarship.