The papers represent the first attempt ever to bring together in one collection the works of scholars specializing or interested on the Philippine Left and the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). They are notable not only for their particular topics, but also for the diversity of their authorship: two Americans, an Australian, a Filipino, a Dutch, and a Swede. Their background as well as their particular area focus (Filipino Marxist theorizing, peasant politics, elections, urban social movements, and purges and executions) has helped bring about a more nuanced examination of the collection’s main topic: understanding the causes behind the current crisis of the Philippine Left. All begin with the 1986 “boycott debacle” of the CPP and proceed to elaborate on the problem based on their specific areas of interest.
The portrait that these papers have drawn shows a Left that has made an enduring mark on Philippine society. Revived mainly by students and intellectuals in the late 1960s, the Left was able to grow despite adverse conditions after Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law. Its forces rapidly spread all over the Philippines, making its presence felt as rural guerrillas, union and community organizers, students and even Church activists. In the last years of martial law, it had become so prominent a political force, that most Filipinos regarded the polarizing politics of the moment as inevitably climaxing in an epic face-to-face confrontation between dictatorship and revolution. This never happened. Instead, “cacique democracy” supplanted the dictatorship and marginalized the revolution. Why this scenario never transpired has generated an intense debate within Left circles and spurred renewed scholarly interest on Philippine radical politics outside of the Philippines. [1] The essays in this collection constitute perhaps the second wave of studies that try to probe further on the issues elaborated by earlier works and explore previously unstudied areas of Left-wing politics. The hope of the authors of this collection is that it would bring about more interest to study what may be the last of the left-wing movements in Southeast Asia.
Download this book at https://muse.jhu.edu/book/59420
or view the following chapters here on ESSF:
Contemporary Philippine Leftist Politics in Historical Perspective by KERKVLIET Benedict J. Tria
http://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article52920
From Vanguard to Rearguard: The Theoretical Roots of the Crisis of the Communist Party of the Philippines by WEEKLEY Kathleen
http://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article52932
Of Motorcades and Masses: Mobilization and Innovation in Philippine Protest by BOUDREAU Vincent G.
http://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article52942
Beyond Boycott: The Philippine Left and Electoral Politics After 1986 by HEDMAN Eva-Lotta E.
http://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article5296
Popular Support for the Revolutionary Movement CPP-NPA: Experiences in a Hacienda in Negros Occidental, 1978–1995 by Rosanne Rutten
http://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article52978
When a Revolution Devours its Children Before Victory: Operasyon Kampanyang Ahos and the Tragedy of Mindanao Communism by Patricio N. Abinales
http://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article53029
Patricio Abinales
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