Identity construction and ‘coincidental’ entrepreneurship among gay Filipino guesthouse owners in Amsterdam
2013; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 21; Issue: 8 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/0966369x.2013.817971
ISSN1360-0524
Autores Tópico(s)Migration and Labor Dynamics
ResumoAbstractThis article centralizes gay Filipino entrepreneurs in the guesthouse industry in the city of Amsterdam, drawing on the narratives and trajectories of five of them. The article highlights the common threads of experiences of these immigrant entrepreneurs, as these provide interesting insights into the processes of their identity (re)construction and social embedding in the Netherlands and the role of their entrepreneurial involvement in these processes. In addition, the article describes how they relate to their home country, the wider Filipino community in the Netherlands, and the wider Dutch gay community. It will be shown that these experiences and relations sit uneasily with established positions in debates on home and belonging within transnational migration studies and queer studies, notably the idea that moving to western countries of destination cannot be treated as equivalent to moving to ‘queer cultural homelands.’ In addition, the article shows that immigrant entrepreneurship does not revolve around ethnicity per se in the sense that entrepreneurial practices cannot be understood separately from other identity forming structures such as sexuality and class.La construcción de identidad y el emprendimiento “coincidente” entre los dueños gays filipinos de casas de huéspedes de ÁmsterdamEste artículo se centra en los emprendedores filipinos en la industria de las casas de huéspedes en la ciudad de Ámsterdam, basándose en las narrativas y trayectorias de cinco de ellos. El artículo resalta los trazos comunes de las experiencias de estos inmigrantes emprendedores, ya que ellos brindan interesantes miradas sobre los procesos de su (re)construcción de identidad e inserción social en los Países Bajos y el rol de su participación empresarial en estos procesos. También, el artículo describe cómo se relacionan con su país de origen, con la comunidad filipina en general en los Países Bajos y con la comunidad gay holandesa. Se mostrará que estas experiencias y relaciones no encajan cómodamente con las posiciones establecidas en los debates sobre estudios del hogar y la pertenencia dentro de los estudios sobre migración transnacional y los estudios queer, en particular la idea de que mudarse a los países occidentales no puede ser tratado como un equivalente a mudarse a “la patria cultural queer”. También, el artículo muestra que el emprendimiento inmigrante no gira en torno de la etnicidad per se, en el sentido de que las prácticas empresariales no pueden ser entendidas en forma separada de otras estructuras de formación de identidad, como sexualidad y clase.阿姆斯特丹的菲律宾同性恋家庭旅馆主人的认同建构与“偶然的”创业精神本文聚焦阿姆斯特丹家庭旅馆产业中的同性恋菲律宾创业者，并运用其中五位的叙事和生活轨迹。本文凸显这些移民创业者的共通经验，这些经验对于他们在荷兰的认同（重新）建构与社会镶嵌的过程，以及他们的创业参与在这些过程中所扮演的角色，提供了有趣的洞见。本文同时描绘出他们如何连结至其祖国、荷兰广大的菲律宾社群，以及更广泛的荷兰同志社群。本文将展现出，这些经验和关係，与跨国移民研究及酷儿研究中有关家和归属感的辩论中所建立的立场，存在着不安的关係，特别是移民至西方国家不可被等同于移民至“酷儿的文化国度”之概念。同时，本文亦显示出，移民创业家精神并不围绕着族裔本身，就此意义而言，创业实践不可独立于其他如同性与阶级的认同形构结构而单独理解之。Keywords:: queer migrationtransnational intersectionalityethnic entrepreneurshipFilipino community in the NetherlandsPalabras claves:: migración queerinterseccionalidad transnacionalemprendimiento étnicocomunidad filipina en los Países Bajos关键词::: 酷儿移民跨国多元交织性族裔创业精神荷兰的菲律宾社群 AcknowledgementsThe authors thank Dr Ton van Naerssen for his encouragement and his thoughtful comments and suggestions, as well as three anonymous reviewers for their valuable inputs.Notes1. The broader project on Filipino entrepreneurship was conducted by Marisha Maas. She discovered the cluster of gay Filipino guesthouse owners and is responsible for a dissertation chapter drawing predominantly on ethnic entrepreneurship literature to explain the emergence of the cluster (Maas Citation2011). Roos Pijpers further elaborated the theoretical framework by connecting to the issues of home and belonging, and migration/gender regimes. In addition, she conducted a follow-up interview with Godwin and his partner to familiarize herself with the cluster and to refresh the empirical material. Pijpers and Maas have different, albeit complementary, reasons for being especially interested in this subproject, which include own coming out experience and experience running an ethnic handicrafts business. During the main period of data collection for the broader project (2001–2005), Maas stayed in the Philippines three times for several months. Interviews and more casual conversations with ‘home country counterparts’ rendered her insights into the cultural context described by the respondents as well as some understanding of Tagalog.2. While some of the more ‘abstracted forms of theorizing about migration and transnationalism’ (Barber Citation2000, 401) may be more sensitive to the existence and significance of the symbolic or immaterial dimension inherent in transnationalism, these sometimes tend to homogenize ‘the complexities of differing experiences and the framing of social relations’ (ibid.) of transnational subjects.3. The names of some of the respondents have been replaced by pseudonyms.4. Research material for the broader project included Filipino newsletters and conferences and thematic meetings on (Filipino) migration held in the Netherlands.5. Rene's website details are not disclosed because he preferred to stay anonymous.6. The meaning of the term bakla revolves around ‘effeminate mannerism, feminine physical characteristics … and cross-dressing’ (Manalansan Citation2003, 25). Folk belief says that, in the figure of the bakla, a female soul is male embodied. Apparently, none of the men interviewed were bakla. This is not surprising given their wealthy background: according to Benedicto (Citation2008), bakla lifestyle is not only effeminate but also distinctively lower class, as it is dominantly adopted by those who cannot afford upmarket clubs and fashion.7. The Monday Club does not exist anymore but has been a distinctive phenomenon within the Amsterdam gay scene for quite a while. Fresnoza-Flot and Pecoud (Citation2007) observed the same among gay Filipinos in Paris, who formed their own associations from which other Filipinos were excluded as well.8. Hunt and Sta Ana-Gatbonton (Citation2000) note that ‘both the Catholic church and the Philippine State scuttle the debate over homosexuality,’ and even though homosexuality is not illegal in the Philippines, SIBOL (a legislative advocacy formation of women's organizations in the Philippines) asserts that ‘The treatment of homosexuality and homosexuals in the legal system may be described in three ways: (1) homosexuality is an aberration; (2) homosexuals are invisible; (3) homosexuals are denied rights granted to heterosexuals.’ This treatment of homosexuals in law is, the organization argues, reflective of the homophobia pervasive in social institutions and Philippine society in general. In the Netherlands, the same-sex marriage and other forms of gay partnership have resulted from long and difficult struggles to move homosexuality out of a discourse of abnormality and deviance. In this sense, like elsewhere in the world, LGBTQ rights in the Netherlands are ‘intimately tied to the abjection of queers and queerness’ (Luibhéid Citation2008a, 172).Additional informationNotes on contributorsRoos PijpersRoos Pijpers studied Economics at Tilburg University, the Netherlands. She moved to Radboud University Nijmegen in 2002, where she defended her Ph.D. thesis in 2007. She currently works as an Assistant Professor of Human Geography at the same university. Her primary research interests center on the geography of work and employment, with an emphasis on labor migration. In her Ph.D. thesis, she discusses the origins of the transitional restrictions that were imposed on the free movement of labor for the citizens of new member states in the European Union and reflects on the relative success of these restrictions in lessening the potential migratory pressure on the respective national labor markets of ‘old’ member states. More generally, she draws on various mainstream and alternative approaches to economic geography to understand the quantitative and qualitative changes in the global economy and the localized consequences for working people.Marisha MaasMarisha Maas studied Human Geography at Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands. In 2000, she started as a Ph.D. student at the same university. Between 2001 and 2005, she stayed in the Philippines three times, for periods up to 5 months. In 2003, she was awarded the Frye Stipendium, a grant designed to encourage women's participation in academia. In 2007–2008, Marisha stayed in Guatemala to work as a volunteer, helping several women groups in the rural hinterlands build up a market for their handicrafts. To this end, she cofounded the project Y'abal Handicrafts, in which she continued her involvement upon her return to the Netherlands. Marisha defended her Ph.D. thesis in 2011. Her research on Filipino immigrant entrepreneurs and her work in Guatemala amalgamated in a new career: at present, Marisha is personally testing the waters of entrepreneurship, marketing, on a fair trade basis, ‘Y'abal-products’ in the Netherlands.
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