Resource environments in labour disruptions: how temporary migrant workers access transnational social protection in troubled times

In temporary migration in Asia, labour disruptions that migrant workers face in host countries have raised critical questions about how migrants secure transnational social protection. While research has highlighted the role of states, institutions, and policies in establishing protection and welfare mechanisms, there has been limited examination of how the interplay of state and non-state actors shapes the ways migrant workers seek support during such disruptions. This paper asks: How do low-wage migrant workers access social protection transnationally when facing difficult situations abroad? Drawing on 33 in-depth interviews with low-wage Filipino women migrant workers – mostly domestic workers – who experienced labour-related distress situations in host countries, I adopt the concept of ‘resource environments’ to examine how state and non-state actors interact to condition migrants’ pathways to assistance, including shelter and repatriation. First, I examine how connections among state actors, recruitment agencies, civil society, migrant groups, and social ties may enhance migrant women’s capacities to seek assistance. Second, I consider the limits and failures of resource environments that constrain migrants’ pursuit of support and justice. The analysis reveals how the relational forces constituting resource environments can enable but also undermine migrants’ differential capacities to secure protection in troubled times.