Gretchen Gonzaga

• Social and Cultural Change and Adaptation
• Growth, inequality and poverty
• Gender
• Migration, mobility and urbanization

• Philippines

Abstract

My research project focuses on the migrant Sama Bajau (also known as Sama [Di]laut) residing in Leyte, Central Philippines. They are formerly sea-based indigenous groups in Southeast Asia. Due to the geographic location in Central Philippines facing the Pacific Ocean, they are frequently threatened by recurrent typhoons. Using an intersectionality lens, I looked at how they recovered after typhoons, particularly Super-Typhoon (Category 5) Rai on December 16, 2021. Their intimate relationship with the seas and islands forged by thousands of years of historical sea nomadism kept them safe and resilient from weather disturbances. Yet in a modernizing postcolonial society, they challenge the classical idea of citizenship defined within bounded territories and guaranteed by a sovereign state.

Member, ZEF Gender Group

Member, Association of Development Communication Educators and Practitioners (ADCEP) Philippines, Inc

2017: MS in Development Communication, Visayas State University, Philippines

2012: BS in Development Communication, Visayas State University, Philippines

Disaster recovery and indigenous studies

Decolonizing Disaster Recovery: Ethnographic Insights into the Sama Badjao’s Post-Typhoon Experiences

EPOS/DAAD

Prof. Dr. Christoph Antweiler

Dr. Dennis Lucy Avilés Irahola