Managing Asymmetries in Global Borderlands: How Organizational Forms Shape Cross-Cultural and Unequal Interactions

• In Event: 191 - Minority Fellowship Program (MFP) Research Session: Issues in Global Inequalities, Experiences, and Activism

Abstract

Living, working, and/or visiting a global borderland—semi-autonomous, foreign-controlled geographic locations geared toward international exchange (Reyes, in press)—necessarily entails interaction between different groups of people. The semi-autonomy of global borderlands and their geographic and symbolic borders ensure that these interactions are structurally unequal. But how are do people manage these structural asymmetries? What are the varied meanings different groups give to these places and these inequalities? Using a relational economic sociology approach to study the Subic Bay Freeport Zone (SBFZ), Philippines, I first examine the structural asymmetries between Filipino workers, Filipino visitors, and foreign visitors. Next, I show the various strategies people use to manage these inequalities, including the role of socio-spatial organization, the use of language, avoiding interactions, and gendered geography. I conclude by noting how interactions are shaped not only by individual social position (worker/consumer, military/civilian, rich/poor, foreign/local) but also by the organizational structures (associated with Filipinos and with foreigners) that exist within the SBFZ.

Author

• Victoria Reyes, Bryn Mawr College