Labour, Gender and Ethnicities in the 'Heart of Manila'

Manila, like most cities in the developing world, is experiencing the effects of the flexibility of global capital and the consequences of being excluded from the flows of knowledge and finance. Quaipo, the 'heart of Manila', has responded to and negotiates with macroeconomic challenges through the underground economy of media piracy. Given the increase in population, unemployment and the general degradation of urban living amongst the poor, the economy of piracy has become a conduit of socio-economic changes that intersect with the culture-specific economy of worship. Quiapo is a fascinating terrain of Manilenos social history; it is the site of class tension, religious and ethnic divide, state intervention, and urban culture. Today, piracy and worship are forces by which the district's inhabitants and pilgrims define their lives and their labour. This essay examines how piracy and worship impact on the labour, space and gender dynamics of Quiapo.