Appadurai’s Scapes: Homelessness in Philippine Urban Cities PDF

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A Critical Paper about Globalization and Homelessness in Advanced Urban Cities in the Lens of Arjun Appadurai’s Scapes

Abstract

The objective of this critical paper is establishing a connection between the proliferation of homelessness in Metro Manila despite of its global ...

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Appadurai’s Scapes: Homelessness in Philippine Urban Cities A Critical Paper about Globalization and Homelessness in Advanced Urban Cities in the Lens of Arjun Appadurai’s Scapes

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Submitted to:

Lourenella De Leon

Mr. Gil Mari Santero

Bachelor of Arts in Political Science 1-1 GEED 10043 December 3, 2021

ABSTRACT The objective of this critical paper is establishing a connection between the proliferation of homelessness in Metro Manila despite of its global advancements. With the use of Arjun Appadurai’s ‘scapes’ as a lens to further examine the relationship and create a deeper analyzation, delving into the reasons of homelessness that are linked to globalization. Table of Contents 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Introduction Homelessness and Metro Manila as a Nexus of Global Exchange Explaining Arjun Appadurai’s Scapes Analyzing Homelessness and Globalization in Metro Manila Conclusion

Introduction Metro Manila, an urban city with its tall buildings and smooth roads, has an objective to become a progressive global city like Seoul and other Southeast Asian countries. Its urban governance and applied global strategies, making manila desirable to foreign capital, and other international exchange (Michel, 2010). It is undeniable that the capital of the country is progressing, competing with other countries, to be included in the spiral of globalization. However, despite with the achievements, there is an underlying irony among the streets of Metro Manila-- the thousands and millions of people in the street with nothing to call as their house, only having their begged coins to surpass the day. The Philippines, among the Southeast Asian countries, has the largest population of homeless people (Kadamay, 2017). Homeless people created its own group of people that are present in the streets trying to earn money by begging at doors and asking for coins on the road. These people sleep on sidewalks, lacking the supply for basic human needs such as food and water. Individuals vary in terms of gender and age; the diverse demography of this group can range from a grown man to an infant. The purpose of this paper is to use Appadurai’s concept as a lens to critically establish a connection between the proliferation of homelessness in Metro Manila despite of its global advancements. Homelessness and Metro Manila as a Nexus of Global Exchange In 2018, Over 4.5 million people in the Philippines are homeless and about 3 million of them are in Manila, according to Thomson Reuters Foundation. In the same context, 115,000 units of public housing in the country are empty because people are moving to cities. These people live on sidewalks, under bridges, and with the high-risk of danger threatening their health and safety (Chandran, 2018). Involving these data gathered, homeless people in urban cities, specifically Manila, are increasing in number. Even with the option of going to housing centers, we can safely assume that there is an underlying reason for their settlement in the urban. In order to help these groups of people, there are local government units that are willing to address this issue, specifically the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD, 2014) included in their “Modified Conditional Cash Transfer for Homeless Street Families Program” that, family as the basic unit of society, homeless people that are present in Metro Manila can be characterized in four categories. (a) Families on the Street are families that represent 75% of the homeless population, they earn livelihood on the street but have an original community, a place where they could go back to.

(b) Families of the Street are families that actually live on the street and for a long period of time and created a community among fellow homeless families, they can either be moving or in a permanent position for a specific time, (c) Displaced Homeless Families are families that lost their homes from natural disasters, they can also be families that came from rural community to find a job in the cities, (d) Community-based Street Families are families also from rural places moved to the urban city with the hopes of finding a better life, but often returning to where they came from (Meribole, 2020). Although, there are available programs to finance homeless people such as Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Programs (4Ps), Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP), and other implementations of poverty reduction, the organization is restricted to targeting the help for livelihood support and eventual relocation (Gray, 2017). Meaning that if the person receiving the help chooses to stay in the particular area, these organizations do not have the jurisdiction to prohibit them. This is one of the reasons why the great number of people are still present on the sidewalks of the city. Further establishing the framework, this paper will delve into the perspective of Manila being the land of many opportunities. As the country’s capital city, it is also the core of trade and commerce. This is where our relationship with the internationals are located, it is the most industrialized part of our country. Metro Manila is the setting where most of the Philippines’ imports and exports are being passed through its port. Additionally, the most prestigious schools are located in this city (Garcia, 2019). Even with these astonishing accomplishments, the Manila ranked 104th out of 109 cities in the Smart City Index 2020 facilitated by the Institute for Management Development (IMD), according to Business World Report (2020). The report also showed that the factors included are the pollution, unsatisfactory public transport, and corruption of public officials became a basis for the drop of ranking of the city. This data shows that Manila despite being the country’s strongest connection towards globalization, is weaker in comparison with other countries, making poverty and homelessness reasonable in the setting. Explaining Arjun Appadurai’s Scapes On Arjun Appadurai’s “Disjuncture and Difference in the Global Cultural Economy,” he believed that the rise of a new global cultural economy or as what we know as “globalization”; is complex, overlapping, and disjunctive. He claimed that creating a new measure is necessary since other created models are already outdated and cannot fathom the real concept of the current global economy for the reason that disjunctures are already present between economy, culture, and politics. In line with this, he proposed a framework to carefully analyze the disjuncture and grasp the relation between the five areas of global cultural flow, namely; (a) ethnoscapes; (b) mediascapes; (c) technoscapes, (d) finanscapes; and (e) ideoscapes (1990). Ethnoscapes refers to the movement of different social groups, such as tourists, immigrants, and other moving groups of persons, around the globe. Included in this scape are people that travel with the reason for opportunity to work and there are people that travel leisurely. With the industrialization and globalization’s occurrence, people were able to advance in different countries easily. This dimension involves tourism, as migrants from different countries affect different policies that were implemented by the state’s government.

Technoscapes refers to the advancements of technology across the world. An example from this dimension is the Apple company and its technology breaking borders. A singular gadget can come across to different countries, selling in enormous amounts based on its popularity and production cost. It is believed to be one of the best-selling smartphones internationally. Another example is the export of software engineers to different countries to work for them and get revenues for their knowledge in the industry. Finanscapes refers to the rapid flow of money across national borders. It involves a more complex schemes of currency markets, stock exchanges, and commodity speculations. Including the rise of technology, the flow of currency between countries have upgraded rapidly, with the rise of banking, people were able to store money through bank and access them internationally with the correct requirements. Mediascapes refers specifically to the course of media from one state to another. The rise of globalization created a faster way to disseminate information and entertainment using medium such as telephone, television, and the Internet. It created a barrier-free for creators to express their narrative and produce stories to different countries. Korean dramas were present in a Philippine setting and western movies were popularized worldwide. Ideoscapes refers to the flow of ideologies. Often political, this dimension usually serves a purpose, to move people with their ideas and create their own impact through people. Ideas can vary from small-scale opinions to a systematic world-view. Ideas such as welfare, rights, representation, and democracy can proliferate with the help of globalization, involving a specific agenda that can affect the state and its people enormously. It is also important to note that the motive behind for the conjunction of the word “scapes” to every dimension is to represent that they are seen in a manner of perspective, different between social groups involved. The use of the word to portray that it is not the same for everyone and is based on viewpoint. It is also included that globalization is moving in different areas of the dimensions, resulting to different conflicts with each scape, termed as disjuncture. Additionally, the said dimension are advantageous if seen holistically, meaning that it would be utmost beneficial if this elementary framework’s dimensions is used simultaneously because of the existing disjunctures in today’s globalization (Appadurai, 1990). This paper will focus on using the standpoint of these groups and individuals in determining the relationship of homelessness in urban cities. With the help of Appadurai’s theory, we will establish the present issues in the dimensions and connect it to homelessness in Manila. Analyzing Homelessness and Globalization in Metro Manila The relationship between globalization and urban homelessness is the content of this part of the paper. Using Hideo Aoki’s “Globalization and the Street Homeless in Metro Manila,” the objective of analyzing their connection with the lens of Arjun Appadurai’s framework will be addressed, stressing the different disjunctures that were created in globalization in the perspective of an individual. First, the disjuncture between ideoscapes, ethnoscapes, and finanscapes addressing globalization affecting the extension of the economy in terms of service. The increase of new facilities such as businesses, convenience stores, and other restaurants created the movement

of people from these establishments to beg for money. They believed the notion that “more money” will be received from begging for people enjoying these fancy establishments. The increase of people joining the community with the hopes of getting a job without any special skills. These jobs can range from vendors to an errand boy. These occupancies are the reason why they stay contented and in the streets, because the idea that “it is still a valuable job” omits them from trying to leave the city. Second, the disjuncture between ideoscapes and finanscapes addressing the informalization of work, the labor flexibility, and the rise of contractualization in the country. The idea of capitalism have worsened livelihood conditions and put the workers’ job at risk. The idea of contractualization removes the benefits that were present in a regular worker. This systematic oppression created a favor for business owners with the idea of a low-cost labor with high profits. It continuously exploits workers until they decide to forfeit and became jobless, thus resulting as the background for homelessness. Third, the disjuncture between finanscapes, ethnoscapes, ideoscapes, and mediascapes addressing the acceleration of land redevelopment in Metro Manila. The expansion of market globally, distributing millions of currencies, is also the expansion of real estate and placing underdeveloped lands into rehabilitation to be qualified for sale. By this process of what is seen as a beautification of the city resulted to eviction of people, especially informal settlers as the main target. These people ended up being relocated or stayed in the streets for being unable to be granted with relocation slots. The government implemented the idea that “Metro Manila is industrialized and advanced” by partnering up with journalists to show the beautiful side of Manila, fully hiding the reality of people losing their homes to their projects. Fourth, the disjuncture between ideoscapes and finanscapes addresses that globalization drove the country to a financial crisis, resulting to the failure of sufficiently achieving the government policies for the poor. The flow of money was greatly invested in industrializing the country, making it less of funding for what really matters such as housing for the poor and possible job opportunities of unemployed Filipinos. It created a pressure on the underprivileged people and generated the capitalistic idea that it is them to be blamed for being unable to provide for themselves, for not working hard. When in fact, the incompetency of the government is to be blamed. Lastly, the reason as to why technoscapes is hardly discussed is because the sector involved, namely the homeless people, is not greatly affected by the flow of technology in the country. This does not necessarily mean that they are not affected by the advancements of technology, but it is with little interrelation to the topic. Conclusion The world is indeed changing, evolving in a fast-paced manner, provoking poverty for the groups of people that are unable to keep in pace with globalization. However, even if the fact is accepted, it does not necessarily mean that injustices that are made should be left unchecked. Responsibility for the people that are negatively affected by this phenomenon is obligatory, for we are human and we possess empathy and accountability for those who are in need. Given these points, this paper is able to introduce the status quo of Homelessness in Metro Manila despite the urban city being characterized as a global nexus for the country. It also explained the fundamental elements of Arjun Appadurai’s concept. This paper also provided the

analyzation for the relationship between the proliferation of homelessness and globalization with the lens of “scapes”.

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