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The Price of Flexibility: Worker Alienation in the Age of Neoliberalism
University College Stockholm, Department of Human Rights and Democracy.
2024 (English)Independent thesis Advanced level (degree of Master (Two Years)), 20 credits / 30 HE creditsStudent thesis
Abstract [en]

This research examines the impacts and implications of the Philippine labor export migration policy on the human rights conditions of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in Kuwait, Hungary, and Poland with the specific objectives of determining the adequacy of legal protections provided by the policy. Through the use of a mixed-methods approach, which included qualitative field interviews and quantitative analysis, along with policy examination and an interdisciplinary approach, this research has uncovered alarming patterns of “alienation” and “systematic precarization” of migrant workers. This has resulted in the deterioration of the employment conditions of OFWs. The study, as extensively discussed in Chapters 6 and 7, has shown that the precarization of migrant workers is continuously occurring in Central Europe, specifically in Hungary and Poland. Meanwhile, OFWs in both contexts, Kuwait and Central Europe, have been subjected to highly exploitative and oppressive working conditions comparable to historical servitude and state-induced debt bondage. Notwithstanding the Philippine labor export migration law (RA 10022) designed to protect OFWs, this study has found that it falls short of providing complete protective measures, especially with regard to abusive treatment, systematic alienation, and precarization of migrant workers. The study also shows that OFWs are trapped in a vicious cycle, where the breakdown of employee-employer relationships and enslavement-like treatment result in a violent crackdown on their fundamental rights, leading to their unfortunate fate. Therefore, there is an urgent need for policy reforms to improve the legal dimension of OFWs’ protection abroad. This calls for reconsidering the Philippine labor export migration policy absorbed toward the promotion of just, fair, and inclusive international and national labor migration regulation to meet the challenges posed by neoliberal policies.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2024. , p. 55
Keywords [en]
OFWs, Overseas Filipino Workers, Filipino migration, migration law, human rights, Philippine labor migration policies, neoliberalism, alienation, precarization, state-induced debt bondage, slavery, price of flexibility
National Category
International Migration and Ethnic Relations Peace and Conflict Studies Other Social Sciences not elsewhere specified Human Geography
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:ths:diva-2476OAI: oai:DiVA.org:ths-2476DiVA, id: diva2:1865476
Subject / course
Human Rights
Educational program
Master’s Programme in Human Rights
Supervisors
Examiners
Available from: 2024-06-13 Created: 2024-06-05 Last updated: 2025-09-15Bibliographically approved

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Department of Human Rights and Democracy
International Migration and Ethnic RelationsPeace and Conflict StudiesOther Social Sciences not elsewhere specifiedHuman Geography

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CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

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Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • harvard-theologisches-seminar-adelshofen
  • sodertorns-hogskola-harvard
  • oxford-university-press-humsoc
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
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  • asciidoc
  • rtf