Philippine E-Journals

Kinship and Community: Filipino Immigrants in Honolulu

Jonathan Okamura

Discipline: Asian Studies

 

Abstract:

In particular, I will discuss the significance of kinship relations and norms in the immigration and settlement of Filipino immigrants in an area of Honolulu called Kalihi. The salience of kinship ties and values is made apparent if the immigration and settlement processes are viewed in terms of the immigrants' perception of the situation. The latter has reference to the immigrants' understanding and explanations of their social situation according to the factors they ·consider salient. Thus, from the immigrants' perspective, it will be made evident that economic factors, such as the general subordinate socio-economic status of Filipino immigrants and the high cost of housing and living in Hawaii, are not sufficient to account for the aggregation of immigrants in Kalihi and the development of its Filipino community. In particular, I would like to dispel the mistaken notion common throughout Honolulu that the primary reason Filipino immigrants reside in Kalihi is because of the availability of cheap housing, and that they cannot