Organizer: Hunter College

Description:

Call centers, seafaring, domestic work, tourism, heritage. These various forms of commercial activity are central to the Philippine economy. This roundtable interrogates the intersection between postcolonial industries and the production of “figures”: circulating models of personhood that have emerged through the conditions of late capitalism and linguistic modernity in the Philippines. Each panelist will present a figure and offer reflections on their research in this area, their theoretical and methodological concerns, and the connections within and outside of the Philippines. How does a focus on the Philippines advance perspectives on modern figures and late capitalist industries as tied to questions of language in the postcolony and the Global South? What are productive overlaps with research in other geographical and topical areas?

To register email: arreye@hunter.cuny.edu