Durham; London: Duke University Press, 2017. xv, 211 pp. (Illustrations.) US$24.95, paper. ISBN 978-0-8223-6369-9.
In Migrant Returns, Eric Pido traces the enduring transnational ties that bind Filipino immigrants in the United States to the Philippines, and how these connections are shaping urban transformations in Metro Manila—a city that has seen a real estate boom in recent years, evidenced by the widespread construction of condominiums, gated communities, and both commercial and residential properties. Based on Pido’s multi-sited ethnography, the book analyses Filipino Americans balikbayans—referring to `those who migrated to the US and have returned or are returning to the Philippines—as they buy homes and properties in Metro Manila, fueling the real estate trend that is reshaping the terrain of the city. Pido focuses on how Filipino migrants’ return aspirations and transnational capital flows translate into material manifestations in an urban landscape shaped by a confluence of state policies and the real estate and property development industry. This transnational connectivity, the book argues, is manifest in balikbayan investments and purchases of properties in Metro Manila, contributing to rapid changes in the urban built environment.
Drawing from urban studies, geography, and sociology, Pido’s work is a timely contribution to ongoing discourses on globalization, return migration, and the formation of cities and urban spaces. To build on the book’s central argument, the author conceptualizes the notion of the balikbayan economy to articulate the influence of state policies and real estate industry actors in reshaping urban spaces in Metro Manila, with the aim of attracting the capital and investments of Filipino return migrants. The author also uses “imaginative laboring”—inspired by Arjun Appadiurai’s “work of the imagination”—as another conceptual lens to capture how migrant desires and return intentions drive capital investments that shape materializations in the urban landscape.
The book’s slim appearance veils the depth and richness of Pido’s research, which entailed interviews with Filipino Americans in the US and Filipino balikbayans in the Philippines, capturing their affective, social, and economic ties to the homeland, as well as their aspirations and experiences of return migration. The author also interviewed transnational real estate and property development actors to provide industry perspectives. The author’s fieldwork drew sharp observations of informants’ homes and other properties in Metro Manila that compellingly illustrate the book’s arguments.
The book consists of an introduction, two main parts with three chapters each, a conclusion, and an epilogue. The introduction discusses the balikbayan economy as a framework to examine how Filipino Americans channel their capital and investments into Metro Manila’s real estate landscape. Part I, chapter 1 covers the history of Metro Manila’s development into a city of malls, commercial districts, and private properties, shaped by the state’s economic policies, financial investments, and private property ownership. Chapter 2 sets the scope of the specific group balikbayans discussed, and the discursive meanings associated with the term balikbayan, including the particular status ascribed to Filipino return migrants. Chapter 3 examines the transnational real estate industry, highlighting the role of real estate and property development actors both in the US and in the Philippines in projecting Metro Manila as an ideal return and retirement haven for Filipinos abroad, advertising properties that appeal to both Filipino and American tastes.
Part II, chapters 4 and 5, turn to the Filipino balikbayans in the Philippines, focusing on the homes and properties they have purchased or invested in. They also examine the “ambivalence and anxieties” return migrants experience, especially fears of city crime and violence, which are capitalized by real estate actors. Chapter 6 specifically examines special retirement zones and how these special zones create segregated spaces to attract Filipino return migrants as well as foreigners. It also considers how government agencies, such as the Philippine Retirement Authority, and policies such as the issuance of retirement visas discursively shape returnees’ belonging in the Philippines, emphasizing their role as “caretakers of their homeland” and “contributors to the economy.” The concluding chapter discusses the creation of retirement villages that offer spaces of tourism and health services to attract balikbayans and other foreign nationals. Finally, the epilogue makes an important commentary on the price of projecting an emerging modern city at the expense of the urban poor.
Migrant Returns is accessible, straightforward, and well-written, keeping readers engaged. Pido offers compelling arguments, using concrete examples (such as Eton City and BF Homes), detailed observations, and visual material. Readers may find, however, that the views of balikbayans are not as extensively presented as compared to real estate actors. Conceptually, I would have liked to read more about how the balikbayan economy relates to the balikbayan landscape, which was mentioned in passing but left underdeveloped. An introductory section that provides a solid, holistic build-up of the balikbayan economy framework, instead of intermittent mentions throughout the book, would have been useful. Additionally, the concept of imaginative labouring is not thoroughly applied in later sections to clearly point out the parts where it is reflected and who is doing the imaginative labouring. Lastly, the book lacks a clear overview of methodology, leaving the reader with questions on the author’s research journey, such as the number of interviews, the research timeline, and the scope and limitations.
Finally, the conclusion and epilogue focus mainly on retirement villages, falling short of bringing the discussion back to the balikbayan economy. However, these sections do well to recognize how neoliberal policies shaping Metro Manila’s landscape have led to the dispossession and displacement of the urban poor, thus making housing unaffordable for many Filipino families (A.A.C. Ortega, “Manila’s metropolitan landscape of gentrification: Global urban development, accumulation by dispossession & neoliberal warfare against informality,” Geoforum 70 [2016]: 35–50).
Migrant Returns offers compelling conceptual and empirical work that engages with questions on transnational migration and urbanism, and joins the growing scholarship on the impact of Filipino transnational connections on the real estate boom in Metro Manila marketed for balikbayans or Filipino return migrants (A.A.C. Ortega, “Transnational suburbia: Spatialities of gated suburbs and Filipino diaspora in Manila’s periurban fringe,” Annals of the American Association of Geographers 108, no. 1 [2018]: 106–124). The book is highly recommended for researchers of globalization, development, and urbanization, and scholars focusing on Filipino transnational migration and the Philippines.
Karen Anne S. Liao
National University of Singapore, Singapore