On Global Happenings in the Name of Jesus, Rubbing Shoulders with VIPs and Domestic Work in the "Holy Land" : Notes on Celebrity and Blessing in the Filipino Diaspora

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Liebelt, Claudia:
On Global Happenings in the Name of Jesus, Rubbing Shoulders with VIPs and Domestic Work in the "Holy Land" : Notes on Celebrity and Blessing in the Filipino Diaspora.
In: South East Asia Research. Bd. 19 (2011) Heft 2 . - S. 225-248.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5367/sear.2011.0041

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Abstract

In Israel, Filipina migrants employed in domestic work and caring come into contact with global and Filipino so-called 'VIPs', especially in the realm of Christianity. As both Catholic and evangelical religious leaders, miracle-workers and elite pilgrims tour the 'Holy Land' of Christians worldwide, Filipina domestic workers integrate them into their religious engagements in the diaspora, find them more approachable than 'at home' and, against the background of the predicaments they face abroad, hope for their own healing and blessing. This hope enables them to transcend through performance the 'migrant domestic worker' label assigned to them. Drawing from anthropological research in Israel and the Philippines, this article investigates the role of celebrity and blessing in Philippine migration, offering insights into processes of subjectification and celebrification in the contemporary racialized global economy.