Urban storytelling as human capital:
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Date
2026-01
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Ianna Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies
Abstract
Background: Internal migration is a primary driver of urbanisation in the Philippines, yet the lived realities of rural-to-urban migrants—particularly those in the informal economy—are often marginalised in dominant urban discourses. While the pursuit of economic opportunity drives migration, it simultaneously creates a complex urban landscape where migrants must navigate exclusion and precarity.
Objective: This study investigates how internal migrants utilise narrative practices as a strategic resource to navigate economic instability, cultivate social networks, and assert a sense of belonging within the urban environment.
Methodology: Adopting a qualitative narrative inquiry framework, the study purposively sampled ten internal migrants engaged in informal-sector labour. Data were collected between January and March 2025 through semi-structured interviews and collaborative story-sharing circles. A thematic narrative analysis was employed to decode recurring story arcs, metaphorical devices, and symbolic expressions.
Results: Findings indicate that storytelling serves as a critical communicative strategy for building trust, mobilising communal resources, and navigating public institutions. Participants utilised narratives to reframe vulnerability as resilience and to negotiate the city’s symbolic and material boundaries. Furthermore, storytelling acts as a tool for "placemaking," allowing migrants to construct distinct urban identities and claim spaces of belonging.
Conclusion: The study concludes that for internal migrants, storytelling functions as both symbolic capital and symbolic labour. In the absence of formal credentials, narratives provide the legitimacy required for survival and belonging. However, these practices also reveal "unsettling social fields" where migrant resilience is under constant scrutiny and systemic struggle.
Unique Contribution: This research advances urban and communication studies by recasting storytelling as a functional form of human capital. By centring narrative agency, the study offers a new framework for understanding how marginalised populations actively shape urban futures rather than existing as passive subjects of development.
Key Recommendation: Policy-makers and urban planners should move toward participatory models that recognize migrants as co-creators of the city. Future research should explore how integrating migrant narratives into community-based programs can foster more equitable and inclusive urban governance.
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Keywords
Urban communities--Philippines, Migration narratives--Philippines, Labor and livelihood in urban areas, Storytelling and social experience, Human capital and survival strategies
Citation
Jarata, J. R. (2026). Urban storytelling as human capital: Narratives of migration, labour, and survival in the Philippines. Ianna Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies , 8(1), 1009–1021. https://iannajournalofinterdisciplinarystudies.com/index.php/1/article/view/1219