Popular Politics in a Philippine Municipality

Abstract

The thesis is about ordinary peopleb s perceptions and styles of politics in Tanauan, Philippines. Tanauan local politics resembles the image found in earlier studies. However, relations between political elites and constituents cannot be understood by merely subscribing to the traditional models of patron-client ties, machine politics, and political violence. The thesis follows an alternative approach: It describes everyday acts of negotiation with or contestation of the dominant political order. It focuses on mundane actions that are articulated through the everyday use of language and emotions, and those fragmented visions that are culturally shaped and religiously oriented. Local politics can be better understood by teasing out the nuances of oftentimes taken-for-granted concepts, such as tulong/pera (help/money), mabait (good), loob (inner being), lakaran (lifeb s journey), sariling sikap (self-help), malapit/malayo (near/far), liwanag (light), and so forth. The consistent usage of Tagalog word-concepts, rather than their English translation, is a key feature of the methodology.