I’ve been thinking of a comment bfp left here a few weeks ago
…because of borders, I became “mexican” rather than indigenous…
and reflecting on how maps and borders classify people, instead of the other way around.
In Imagined Communities, Benedict Anderson studied how cultural instruments such as maps, the census, and museums were not only a result [...]
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In 2002, Elena Garcdoce Francisco, a 102-year-old Tumandok woman, journeyed to Iloilo City from her mountain home in Panay. She sang an ambahan, protesting the destruction wrought by militarization in her ancestral lands. These military incursions date back to at least 1962, under then President Diosdado Macapagal.
This practice of telling stories through poetry and chants [...]
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My first full-time teaching job was as a sociology instructor at Career U. Unlike other career schools, this one actually gave me freedom to design my own Intro to Sociology courses—certainly not the norm at most career schools. I met some pretty cool students in those classes, and we did good work. My job helped [...]
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Posted in Philippines, feminist theory, globalization, social justice, women of color, tagged Catholicism, feminism, globalization, mary john mananzan, transnational feminism on December 24, 2008 | 7 Comments »
I left Catholicism in fits and starts, the way a smoker keeps reaching for one last cigarette. But I did leave for good three years ago. And though I don’t identify as Catholic anymore, Sudy reminds me of teachings that resonate.
Love one another. Whatever you do to the least of my brothers. Ministering to [...]
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There have been news stories of fetuses found around Manila, including three found at the Manila Cathedral, Santa Cruz Church, and Quiapo Church. The Quiapo Church fetus was concealed in a basket of offerings. It was wrapped in a rosary and placed inside a bottle.
This phenomenon has become more frequent—thirteen over just the last two [...]
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Camille Paglia recently wrote a number of gushing statements about Sarah Palin, but here’s the one that made my eyes roll the hardest:
I stand on what I said (as a staunch pro-choice advocate) in my last two columns — that Palin as a pro-life wife, mother and ambitious professional represents the next big shift in [...]
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Posted in Philippines, feminist theory, globalization, human rights, social justice, women of color, tagged feminism, feminist theory, social justice, women of color on October 24, 2008 | 5 Comments »
What does it mean to recognize the home as a site of resistance?
Last semester, our professor posed this question to a group of law students at an ivy league university, and was surprised at how many students got so upset. But professor, they cried, women were oppressed in the home. That’s why we fought so [...]
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Posted in Good reads, Philippines, feminist theory, globalization, social justice, women of color, tagged blog action day, chandra mohanty, feminism, feminist theory, gayatri spivak, gender, globalization, poverty, women, women of color on October 15, 2008 | 13 Comments »
I am an immigrant woman of the Two-Thirds World, who is living with the One-Third World.
I first came across Esteva and Prakash’s concept of the One Third/Two Thirds World via Chandra Mohanty’s Feminism Without Borders. The concepts recognize the transnational nature of capital, and how policies instituted by people in the One-Third World (middle and [...]
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Posted in Philippines, globalization, social justice, women, women of color, tagged anti-capitalism, bangladesh, gender, Ifugao, microcredit, Philippines, social justice, women, women of color on October 14, 2008 | 22 Comments »
It’s easy to understand the appeal of microcredit. Poor women from the Global South use loans as small as $20 to start businesses and lift themselves from poverty. The creditors make a profit when the loans are repaid. Win-win.
What do they say about things that look too good to be true?
A whopping 90 to 99 [...]
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Posted in Philippines, globalization, human rights, social justice, women of color, tagged fallujah, globalization, militarization, Philippines, US elections, war on terror, women of color on October 3, 2008 | 3 Comments »
“If McCain is elected, I’m headed back home,” stated a classmate this week during a discussion about the elections.
The assumption behind the plan, of course, is that moving away would insulate you from the effects of Bush-McCain’s policies. But if anything, the deleterious effects of this administration’s military policies are magnified for marginalized populations in [...]
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