Emotional labour in the boundary work of Filipino transnational workers in Indian cities.

This article examines the emotional dimension of boundary work performed by Filipino transnational professionals in globalizing Indian cities, focusing on how emotional labour facilitates cooperation amid hierarchical and culturally complex workplaces. Drawing on ethnographic research and Arlie Hochschild's concept of emotional labour, it shows that Filipino workers navigate social biases related to gender, race, and outsider status by performing emotional labour to assert authority, demonstrate expertise, and maintain professional boundaries. These emotional performances enable the construction, maintenance, and reconfiguration of boundaries that both challenge and accommodate local social hierarchies, thereby fostering cooperation in work settings marked by power distance and cultural difference. The study highlights the importance of recognizing emotional labour in understanding international migration dynamics and suggests institutional mechanisms for skills recognition to improve transnational workers' conditions.