Care Activism in Canada: Migrant Domestic Workers, Dissident Friendships and Decolonial Care

March 19, 2024

Dr. Ethel Tungohan and Diwa Marcelino

Dr. Ethel Tungohan in conversation with Diwa Marcelino, Migrante Manitoba

In collaboration with the Global College – University of Winnipeg, the Centre for Human Rights Research (CHRR) at the University of Manitoba hosted Dr. Ethel Tungohan (York University) for a seminar titled Care Activism in Canada: Migrant Domestic Workers, Dissident Friendships and Decolonial Care. Dr. Tungohan was in conversation with Migrante Manitoba representative and community organizer Diwa Marcelino.

Ethel Tungohan is a Canada Research Chair in Canadian Migration Policy, Impacts and Activism and an Associate Professor of Politics at York University in Toronto, Canada. Her book, “Care Activism: Migrant Domestic Workers, Communities of Care, and Movement Building,”, won the National Women’s Studies Association First Book Prize. Her research looks at social movements, immigration policy, social and public policy, and Canadian and comparative politics.

Diwa Marcelino is a community organizer with Migrante Manitoba, a grassroots organization advancing the rights and welfare of overseas Filipinos within the framework of peoples’ struggle for democracy, justice & peace in the Philippines. Migrante Manitoba is a founding member of Health Care for All Manitoba, an alliance advocating for expanded public health care coverage to include all residents of Manitoba regardless of status. During the Freedom Convoy occupations in 2022, he became the national project manager for the Community Solidarity Project, a civil society response to rise of the politics of division and hate. He is also a founding member of Community Solidarity Manitoba. He is also the vice-chairperson of the Council of Canadians, a grassroots organization challenging corporate power and advocating for people, the planet and our democracy. He is also a steering committee member of KAIROS, an ecumenical organization promoting ecological justice and human rights.

This seminar is a part of our annual Critical Conversations seminar series. This year, the seminar series focused on the CHRR’s research theme Reproductive and Bodily Justice and explored histories of the body, reproduction, and care in Canada and beyond.