Objects As Survival: Climate-Induced Evacuation in Southern Philippines

It had already been a couple of days of endless rain in my hometown of Mati, Philippines which, for a tropical country in its dry season, is not unheard of but enough to brew concern among the residents. On 18 January 2024, the water reached a tipping point that resulted in heavy flooding which prompted officials to order mass evacuations. While packing my stuff, I realized that I subconsciously followed a particular order to items I considered 'essential' in the face of a crisis. I first packed my laptop, then my passport, and lastly, a pair of clothes. Suggestions to broaden the discussion on the nexus between human behavior and movement in the face of the climate crisis have been raised to focus more on individual experiences, the various ways people respond to the effects of climate change, and the role that power plays in these dynamics. Hence, I ask: What meanings are ascribed by intersectional identities to material possessions in the face of climate-induced evacuation in Mati, Philippines? Intersectional identities in this context, pertain to the ‘voices’ that Tschakert and Neef (2022) describe as neglected in the literature on climate and mobility. Drawing on concepts from the framework of intersectionality and bakla (queer) theory, I utilized ethnographic methodologies including in-depth semi-structured interviews with Filipino women to understand how the act of packing during a crisis is ontologically constituted by focusing on the lived experiences of those directly affected by the phenomenon. Such an exploration is necessary because by understanding the meanings that humans attribute to material objects, and the ways in which they do so, I hope to provide nuance on climate-induced evacuation in the Global South. Following this, three themes emerged: (1) mobile devices as survival, (2) physical documents as movement, and (3) clothing as self-presentation amid precarity.