ABSTRACT
This chapter shifts the focus from the individual level to the level of social class in discussing the neoliberal restructuring of the transnational social field. Particularly based on the case of the migration of middle-class professionals, it will discuss the divide and differentiation between the social classes would become more prominent in the process of such restructuring. Especially in the Philippines, a cultural analysis of middle-class identity should be discussed in the context of the increasing fluidity of social classes brought about by transnational migration. The narratives of middle-class professionals regarding their motivation and plans for migration highlight middle-class identity and its ambivalence. Some similarities indicative of middle-class identity can be gleaned from the cases presented. The identity and subjectivity forged under contemporary neoliberal governmentality are characterised by instability, fragmentation, individualization, and social fluidity. The transnational migration of Filipino middle-class professionals examined in the chapter suggested the “individualized identities, generated by a continuous process of comparison ‘up’ and ‘down’”.
