Ethnic Boundary-Making at the Margins of Conflict in The Philippines

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xvii

   PDF

2. Introduction: Ethnic Boundary-Making

   • Anabelle Ragsag

   Pages 1-13

3. Theoretical and Conceptual Considerations

   • Anabelle Ragsag

   Pages 15-30

4. The Making of Ethnic Boundaries in the Philippines: A Historical Overview

   • Anabelle Ragsag

   Pages 31-43

5. Categorizing Ethnicity in Sarangani Bay

   • Anabelle Ragsag

   Pages 45-70

6. Distribution of Power

   • Anabelle Ragsag

   Pages 71-96

7. Vernacular Voices and Locally Situated Agents

   • Anabelle Ragsag

   Pages 97-135

8. Back Matter

   Pages 137-147

   PDF

This book makes a significant interdisciplinary contribution to existing scholarship on ethnicity, conflict, nation-making, colonial history and religious minorities in the Philippines, which has been confronted with innumerable issues relating to their ethnic and religious minority populations. Using Sarangani Bay as a research site, the book zones in on the lives of the Muslim Sinamas and the Christianized indigenous B'laans as they navigate the effects of the ongoing turmoil in the Bangsamoro region in Muslim Mindanao—a multi-faceted conflict involving numerous armed groups, as well as clans, criminal gangs and political elites. This work considers the factors affecting the Muslim Moro people, who have long been struggling for their right to self-determination. The conflict in the Moro areas has evolved over the past five decades from an ethnonationalist struggle between an aggrieved minority and a thorny issue for the central government: a highly fragmented conflict with multiple overlapping causes of violence. The book provides a framework for understanding the ethnic separatism in the case of the southern part of the country, framed by the concept of ethnic boundaries. Providing an excellent blend of theory and empirical evidence, the author confronts how ethno-religious divisions adversely impact the quality of life and unpacks how these divisions challenge multiculturalist policies. Weaving together multiple branches of the social sciences, this book is of interest to policymakers, researchers and students interested in international relations and political science, Asian studies, ethnic studies, Philippines’ history, sociology and anthropology.

• Ethnic Boundary-Making in the Phillippines
• Ethnic Boundary-Making
• Ethnicity in the Conflict in Mindanao, Southern Philippines
• Etymology of the Concept Ethnicity
• Sovereign and Subjects as Boundary-Markers
• Boundary-Making at the Margins of Power
• Language as Basis of Ethnicity Categorisation

• Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada

  Anabelle Ragsag

Anabelle Ragsag is from Mindanao, and this book is her attempt to contribute to Mindanao literature written by those from Mindanao at the intersection of politics and conflict-driven migration. She has taught politics in the Philippines for several years and has also held roles in international organizations where she managed programs supporting refugees and migrants. 

 

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