Search

In this paper, we show how the notion of unequal Englishes can be deployed as an alternative way of accounting for the global spread of English. Through our data, we show how call-center agents in the Philippines espouse conflicting ideologies in the workplace that invoke unequal Englishes. On the one hand, they espouse ideologies of privilege by seeing themselves as being able to exploit the resources of English in the call-center workplace, thus celebrating themselves as proficient users of the language. On the other hand, they also espouse ideologies of delegitimization borne out of pressures to subscribe to American Standard English and the belief in the inherent superiority of 'native speaker' Englishes and their varieties. By mobilizing the paper towards unpacking inequalities of Englishes as invoked in the statements of call-center agents, we hope to contribute to critically engaged discussions of the role of English in the world today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper empirically tracks the Philippine (policy) path following the mantra of economic globalization over the past 25 years. Specifically, it investigates the resulting regional growth-inequality relationships and development footprints accompanying the restructuring of political economy and livelihoods. The Philippine case thereby shows how globalization can simultaneously cause the selective dismantling of (economic) barriers and enhancement of mobility and growth, as well as a deterioration of socioeconomic inequalities in space and society. In an increasingly deregulated and contested environment these development divides do not just pose serious threats to regional balance and national cohesion but, ultimately, undermine state capacity to achieve avowed goals of inclusive growth, stability and equality for citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Subnational disparities and center–region relations are increasingly important issues in both the development economics literature and East Asian policy circles. Almost all developing countries in East Asia are actively decentralizing power and resources from the center. Analytically, there is growing interest in spatial economics, arising out of the fusion of economics and geography. This paper examines these issues with reference to Indonesia and the Philippines. Both countries are well suited to such a study: they are the two largest archipelagic nations in the world, they both feature great subnational diversity, and they have both adopted major decentralization programs, in similar circumstances. We conclude that, in aggregate, there have been no major changes in regional inequality in either country, although this conclusion is sensitive to the selection of economic indicators. In general, the regions that are the best connected to the global economy have grown more rapidly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Development of international markets is crucial for firm growth. As world trade has expanded rapidly in recent years, strategic international expansion has become increasingly important. Michael Porter's Determinates of International Country Attractiveness model (“diamond”) has been the standard used to determine “where” firms should expand internationally. These determinants include (1) demand conditions, (2) related and supporting industries, (3) strategy, structure, and rivalry, and (4) factor conditions. Aside from the issue of “where” firms should expand, thinking through “how” firms should develop international positions is equally important in a successful expansion. This paper uses the resource-based view of the firm to explain “how” firms should develop international markets and utilizes FedEx's expansion in the Philippines as an example. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Tracing the contours of 'the social' is of critical importance today, since there is a widely shared understanding that 'the social' has been undergoing a fundamental mutation under the encroaching influence of globalization and neoliberalism. This mutation means that a population and its risks are increasingly administered and managed through the nurturing of free subjects, productive citizens and active communities. By focusing on conditional cash transfers as a poverty-alleviation programme in the Philippines, this study examines how the contemporary government of poverty attempts to realize social inclusion through the nurturing of desires, habits and dispositions that are conducive to an 'investment in human capital'. The study argues that such regimes produce various forms of exclusion and counterclaims by the beneficiaries, and that these counterclaims, which reflect the popular notions of patronage and clientelism, have serious implications for envisioning the alternative configuration of 'the social'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global flows of people and information in the Asia–Pacific region are creating new forms of place that stretch across national boundaries and rural–urban distinctions. These new mobile forms of place link long-inhabited rural areas to cities, national centres, and to rural frontiers within the nation. Here, we describe new forms of place that are being produced by contemporary migration and economic change, using data from the Philippines and applying Appadurai's theorisation of translocality. Our analysis links these flows of overseas migrants to concomitant processes of economic change, migration and new rural livelihoods. We outline changing practices of place within the Philippines, exploring ways that transnational migration can articulate with apparently ‘local’ development and the flow-on effects from migration on the spatial patterns of rural livelihoods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the historical development of career counseling in the Philippines. Discussion of the U.S. influence on career counseling in the Philippines; Effect of the restoration of democracy and globalization on the development of career counseling; Information on challenges and concerns affecting the development of career counseling.

The dual process of globalization and localization in the metropolis provides a challenging perspective for urban sociology and urban anthropology. Particularly in the mega cities of the third world, this process is highly contradictory and leads to intensifying conflicts about the use of urban land. By concentrating on the emerging localities and local forms of organization, it has been illustrated that globalization inevitably remains incomplete. the social creativity and agency of the city dwellers make them actors rather than objects or victims in the dynamics of change of the city. Localities thus provide a starting point for urban studies in which global, structural development can be linked with local processes and everyday life. From such a perspective, it seems possible to connect a sociological macroprospective of a world-system with anthropological research on the formation of local groups. In established slums in Manila, Philippines and Bangkok, Thailand closed-knit networks beyond kinship and ethnicity form the basis of local organizations. Personal relations in everyday life allow for social control, a rapid spread of information and a potential for the emergence of trust and solidarity.