10 - 14 JULY 2000
QUEZON CITY, THE PHILIPPINES
The Sixth International Philippine Studies Conference
From 10 to 14 July 2000, the Sixth International Philippine Studies Conference was held in Quezon City. Initiated in 1978 with a conference in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and followed by similar conventions in Hawaii in 1981, Quezon City (1989), Canberra (1992), and Honolulu (1996), the Sixth Conference has now established a firm pattern of alternating conferences in one of the five continents and the Philippines.
By OTTO VAN DEN MUIJZENBERG
The conference was organized under the auspices of the Philippine Studies Association under the presidency of Dr Isagani Cruz. The keynote speaker, Dr Bienvenido F. Nebres, president of Ateneo de Manila University, situated the scientific work to be done in the conference within the context of a rapidly globalizing world driven by rapidly changing technological possibilities. In his view, there is no other option for countries than to be involved in the process, but the conditions under which this takes place can be influenced. Signalling a remarkable and positive shift in the attitude of Filipinos towards new as opposed to old technology, he pleaded for thorough and adequate educational development to prevent technology from just being imposed upon the Filipino people from the outside, as well as to prevent the much-dreaded falling-out process of cyber illiterates. Seen in this context, Philippine Studies could and should serve as a tool for enabling the Filipinos to co-determine the form under which globalization works out in their country.Forty-four panels in parallel sessions amply filled the three days of the conference in the strict sense. Speaking of numbers: the panels averaged four papers each, thus a total of 171 papers had to be 'processed', 147 of which were prepared by Filipinos. Among the foreign groups, the Americans were the most numerous, followed by the Japanese. The numerical dominance of Filipino presenters, admittedly encouraged by the fact that the conference was situated in their own country, confirms the overall development of the field of Philippine Studies. Started as an intellectual quest mainly by foreigners, it has now, to a large extent, 'come home'.
The overall theme of the conference was ' Turns of the Centuries: The Philippines in 1900 and 2000', which proved to be broad enough a title to accommodate many themes and approaches, while, at the same time, alerting the writers and audience to think in a long-term perspective. The majority of the papers could be grouped under the social sciences and humanities, but several panels presented work on an interdisciplinary basis involving natural sciences, architecture, the performing arts, and practical politics, as well.
After the many occasions of celebrating and studying the Philippine Revolution of 1896 and its aftermath leading to the First Republic and the American occupation, it was no surprise that several panels continued to discuss such themes as the war for freedom, the unfinished revolution, and local heroes. More contemporary rebellions and local wars received ample attention; as did the ongoing struggle towards a more equitable distribution of life chances in society. In former conferences, poverty and class issues received much attention; although attention to such issues was not absent here, this conference showed a clear shift of interest towards the gender issue. With seven panels and papers in various other panels, no one could complain that gender dimensions of culture, politics, environmental and broad development issues, or even 'the body', were neglected. This last subject, a post-modernist development, earned a separate panel, thus confirming the emergence of a new specialization.
Jihad
Whereas it is difficult to speak of a simple process for increasing women's emancipation in the real world, the fact that the numbers of Filipinos outside their country are increasing a 'Filipino diaspora' is undeniable. Its importance was reflected in a considerable number of papers discussing manifold aspects of this massive migration, including the emergence of a second generation and concomitant problems of integration and identity formation. At the same time, Philippine society itself has been confronted with immigration of foreigners, in particular Chinese, Indians, and refugees which raises questions about integration, assimilation, multiculturalism, and the like.
Socio-cultural diversity and conflicts within the Philippine state were discussed and, in some cases, hotly debated. One day after the proclamation of a jihad by the leader of the Muslim Islamic Liberation Front, a hastily organized special panel on the war in Mindanao and Sulu drew massive and, at times, emotional attention. Among other contemporary 'big problems' of Philippine society, several panels addressed the ways in which Philippine society and politics come to terms with the technological developments of the past few decades. A recurring concern was that an even sharper division in society could develop on the basis of the 'cyber-revolution' because the Philippine educational system would prepare young people insufficiently for keeping up with the developments.
Not unexpectedly, several papers addressed changing relations between the Philippines and major economic players in the world, in particular the US and Japan. It was striking, however, that most of them were concerned with past relations of at least one generation ago, while contemporary developments were only debated in a special forum. Literature and the performing arts, always present in the conference and often geared towards investigating topics that can be summarized under the term 'socio-political relevance', were somewhat less noticeable than before, at least in the official programme.
One of the frustrating aspects of attending a large conference is, of course, that one cannot attend all or even most of the panels and consequently one can hardly do justice to the rich variety of topics discussed. In three 'state-of-the art' panels, a summary of Philippine Studies research in five continents was given. The discussions about theoretical and methodological standing of 'Philippine Studies' raised the crucial question about whether the field could survive without becoming international and comparative.
As suggested by the title, the focus of the Sixth Conference was on the twentieth century, and, largely, participants kept their period limited to that century, which was different from former occasions where research on the Spanish colonial period was more present.
A well-organized conference, it drew widespread appreciation from its Filipino and foreign participants. The next conference was announced to take place in the Netherlands in 2004. *
Otto van den Muijzenberg, is attached to the University of Amsterdam and to the Centre for Asian Studies in Amsterdam (CASA).
E-mail: vandenmuijzenberg@pscw.uva.nl