The Filipino seafarer : a life between sacrifice and shopping

Abstract

This thesis is about the seaman and his family. A returning theme in every part of this work, is how the Filipino overseas seafarer is interwoven with his family. Both in the sense that the family appear as the major motive for leaving - to improve the financial situation of the family, is the most typical migratory motive - and in the sense that close kin often play an intrinsic role as facilitators for the actual departure. Also the extensive and complex financial contribution of the seafarer towards his family, together with certain extraordinary knowledge obtained through his occupation, finds its place in how I will portray the seafarer, namely as a family based enterprise.