In the Name of Civil Society: From Free Election Movements to People Power in the Philippines

Eva-Lotta Hedman

Published by University of Hawaii Press 2005

In the Name of Civil Society

From Free Election Movements to People Power in the Philippines

Eva-Lotta Hedman

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780824845469

Overview
Contents

About this book

"In the Name of Civil Society examines Philippine politics in a highly original and provocative way. Hedman’s detailed analysis shows how dominant elites in the Philippines shore up the structures of liberal democracy in order to ensure their continued hegemony over Philippine society. This book will be of interest to everyone concerned with civil society and the processes of democratization and democracy in capitalist societies." —Paul D. Hutchcroft, University of Wisconsin, Madison

What is the politics of civil society? Focusing on the Philippines—home to the mother of all election-watch movements, the original People Power revolt, and one of the largest and most diverse NGO populations in the world—Eva-Lotta Hedman offers a critique that goes against the grain of much other current scholarship. Her highly original work challenges celebratory and universalist accounts that tend to reify "civil society" as a unified and coherent entity, and to ascribe a single meaning and automatic trajectory to its role in democratization. She shows how mobilization in the name of civil society is contingent on the intercession of citizens and performative displays of citizenship—as opposed to other appeals and articulations of identity, such as class. In short, Hedman argues, the very definitions of "civil" and "society" are at stake. Based on extensive research spanning the course of a decade (1991–2001), this study offers a powerful analysis of Philippine politics and society inspired by the writings of Antonio Gramsci. It draws on a rich collection of sources from archives, interviews, newspapers, and participant-observation. It identifies a cycle of recurring "crises of authority," involving mounting threats—from above and below—to oligarchical democracy in the Philippines. Tracing the trajectory of Gramscian "dominant bloc" of social forces, Hedman shows how each such crisis in the Philippines promotes a countermobilization by the "intellectuals" of the dominant bloc: the capitalist class, the Catholic Church, and the U.S. government. In documenting the capacity of so-called "secondary associations" (business, lay, professional) to project moral and intellectual leadership in each of these crises, this study sheds new light on the forces and dynamics of change and continuity in Philippine politics and society.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
List of Acronyms Publicly Available Download PDF	xiii
1. In the Name of Civil Society Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
2. Transformism, Crises of Authority, and the Dominant Bloc in the Philippines Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	15
3. Veterans of War and Civic Action: NAMFREL in the 1950s Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	44
4. Bishops, Businessmen, and Moral Leadership: CNEA and OQC in the 1960s Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	67
5. Volunteers of the Nation and the Empire of Civil Society: NAMFREL in the 1980s Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	88
6. Mapping the Movement: NAMFREL 1986 in Six Provincial Cities and Towns Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	116
7. Watching theWatchers: The Spectacle of Civil Society Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	142
8. From Free Election Movements to People Power: Civil Society Revisited Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	167
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	187
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	233
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	255

Language: English
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 284

eBook

Published: November 30, 2005
ISBN: 9780824845469