An Archipelago of Care

Book excerpt: A study of Filipino caregivers in London and what it says for migrant workers and the networks they build in the global marketplace. Focusing on the experience of Filipino caregivers in London, some of whom are living and working illegally in their host country, Deirdre McKay considers what migrant workers must do to navigate their way in a global marketplace. She draws on interviews and participant observations, her own long-term fieldwork in communities in the Philippines, and digital ethnography to present an intricate consideration of how these caregivers create stability in potentially precarious living situations. McKay argues that these workers gain resilience from the bonding networks they construct for themselves through social media, faith groups, and community centers. These networks generate an elaborate “archipelago of care” through which migrants create their sense of self. “A beautifully written ethnography of Filipino migrants in the UK and their experience of living their lives within and across the UK and the Philippines, mediated by physical space, institutions and a series of digital media.” —Heather Horst, coauthor of Digital Ethnography: Principles and Practices “Deirdre McKay takes a novel approach to key concepts undergirding globalization and transnationalism today—citizenship, surveillance, and security. She makes us think differently about the negotiation of belonging in a digital and hyper-securitized age.” —Jennifer Burrell, author of Maya After War: Conflict, Power, and Politics in Guatemala