Stuck at home: Pandemic immobilities in the nation of emigration

Publication Type

Book

Publication Date

5-2025

Abstract

The Philippines is among the most successful migrant-sending nations in the world, both lauded and critiqued for exporting its own citizens to a global labor market. Yasmin Y. Ortiga brings readers beyond this popular image to explore questions often overlooked: What happens when workers who were encouraged to emigrate are suddenly unable to leave?Stuck at Home examines how the Philippine state and its aspiring migrants negotiated the meaning of immobility amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In this pioneering book, Ortiga studies the narratives that emerged around two groups of Filipino workers: nurses banned from leaving the country and cruise workers who returned home after COVID-19 shut down the travel industry. Ortiga emphasizes the high stakes in telling the "right" story of immobility to a nation built around emigration—one that provides a compelling rationale for who deserves to move and who can be forced to stay.A gripping account of political interests, frustrated dreams, and an unprecedented crisis, Stuck at Home reveals how migration governance is not only about regulating people's movement, but also defining the meaning and implications of remaining in place.

Keywords

Foreign workers, Philippines, government policy, COVID-19

Discipline

Asian Studies | Public Health | Work, Economy and Organizations

Research Areas

Sociology

First Page

1

Last Page

202

ISBN

9781503642829

Publisher

Stanford University Press

City or Country

Stanford

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