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Dual Futures: Double Integration? a Comparative Study of Filipino Mothers and Japanese-Filipino Children's Patterns of Transmigration and Social Integration
The presence of transnational and intercultural families is a globalized phenomenon that ethnically diversifies societies and raises profound questions on social integration and belonging of immigrants. Over time, the first generation of migrants has redefined their socio-economic positions through acquired and enacted social capital (Bourdieu 1986), which consequently generates a range of influence on the second generation’s life projects.
Filipino women represent one of the four largest groups of migrants in Japan whose intermarriage to Japanese men have produced children of both Japanese and Filipino dual ethno-cultural heritage called Japanese-Filipino children (JFC). Over the years, Filipino mothers have been reforming their image and widening their socio-economic participation in the mainstream society, although their minority status still curtails their visibility and political voice. JFC, on the other hand, are rather diverse groups of second-generation immigrant children in terms of socialization and economic experiences.
This exploratory study aims to compare and contrast Filipino mothers and their Japanese-Filipino children’s pursuit of social integration by examining the linkage between their patterns of transnational migration and current and future socio-economic life trajectories. Using life vignettes obtained from in-depth interviews with (30) Filipino mothers and (30) JFC, this research analyzes the linkage between migration and parents and children’s formulation of life goals and aspirations, considerations of the social, economic, and educational roles of Japan and the Philippines in their individual and family life, and levels of socio-economic participation in both societies.
The case of Filipino migrant mothers and JFC striving to build socio-economic futures both in Japan and the Philippines provides a micro-level context for examining how first generation and second-generation immigrants utilize transnationalism as a tool for (re)constructing life projects while dealing with uneven, ambivalent degree of social integration in both locations.