Europe in the colonial mirror

This essay examines the method of the French Doctrinaires by focusing primarily on the historical writings of their most prominent representative, François Guizot (1787–1874). After a brief introductory presentation of the Doctrinaires’ group, the essay discusses the role of historical studies during the Restoration and provides an in-depth analysis of the Doctrinaires’ historical and sociological mode of argument. Special emphasis is put on the Doctrinaires’ distinction between social and political condition. In order to illustrate the Doctrinaires’ method, the essay examines Guizot's nuanced analysis of modern egalitarian society to be found in his book On Death Penalty (1822).     

Canada and colonial genocide

This introductory article offers an overview of debates about genocide and settler colonialism in Canada. The argument is presented that Canada, although a marginal case to genocide studies, provides important insights and challenging questions, particularly with respect to the need to decolonize the field of genocide studies.     

Land reform in South Africa and the colonial present

This paper develops Derek Gregory's concept of the ‘colonial present’ by demonstrating how the colonial present in rural South Africa in general and around land reform in particular has conditioned land reform outcomes. My development of the concept departs from Gregory's in two key respects. I argue first that, by viewing it in relation to the geopolitics of capitalism, it can be applied to places beyond the immediate influence of US military power; and, second, that social forces which might begin to undermine the colonial present should be examined. My empirical materials draw upon primary research on the emergence of government-sponsored partnerships between restitution beneficiaries and agribusinesses in northern Limpopo. I use the materials to argue that partnerships have emerged given white farmers’ near-monopoly on skills and the persistent power of traditional leaders, two features of South Africa's colonial past whose importance today is suggestive of a colonial present.     

The Marcoses and authoritarian rule in the Philippines

Filemon C. Rodriguez, The Marcos Regime: Rape of the Nation, New York, Vantage Press, 1985, pp.285 (reprinted by Moed Press, Quezon City, 1986. Pesos 130.00, paper).

Charles C. McDougald, The Marcos File: Was he a Philippine Hero or a Corrupt Tyrant? San Francisco, San Francisco Publishers, 1987, pp.345. $14.95 (paper).

Raymond Bonner, Waltzing with a Dictator: the Marcoses and the Making of American Policy, London, Macmillan, 1987, pp.533. $39.95 (cloth).

Belinda A. Aquino, Politics of Plunder: the Philippines under Marcos, Quezon City, Great Books Trading and University of the Philippines College of Public Administration, 1987, pp.208. Pesos 100.00 (paper).

Lewis E. Gleeck, President Marcos and the Philippine Political Culture, Manila, Loyal Printing, 1987, pp. 280. US$20.00 (paper).     

Court-day crowds in colonial Virginia

ABSTRACT

For a generation, legal historians investigating colonial Virginia have emphasized the dramaturgy of court day. According to the dramaturgical school of interpretation, administrative and judicial activities of county court officials amounted to theatrical performances that simultaneously enforced economic order and stabilized traditional social relationships. Such interpretations assume a large audience routinely attended county courts to observe legal dramas. Often, however, only a small number of persons can be documented as present during court day. The independence theorem from probability theory suggests that the number of documentable attendees is a useful and easily calculated estimate for actual total crowd size. If so, some Virginia court sessions were attended by hundreds of people, while others drew only a few participants. A variety of factors apparently inhibited court attendance in older Virginia counties. By contrast, in newer frontier counties, mid-eighteenth-century revisions of court calendars produced heavy attendance at court day. Regardless of the number of people in attendance, any Virginia county court could still effectively enforce credit contracts.     

菲律宾女人--柔韧肩膀的担当

菲律宾女人柔情似水, 然而,她们并非尽是软弱, 困为菲律宾女人担当起的 不仅仅是道义,还有危机和 苦难,当然还有创造, 甚至整个国家的政治生命 和经济命脉.在她们中间, 有芳草般洒落在天涯海角的 女佣,有无时不在每个人 身后的母亲,还有大权在握、 叱咤风云的女总统.     

Oppression and opportunity: Migration and markets in the colonial Andes

The Kingdom of Quito, 1690–1830: The State and Regional Development. By KENNETH J. ANDRIEN. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995. Pp. xi, 255.

Power and Violence in the Colonial City: Oruro from the Mining Renaissance to the Rebellion of Tupac Amaru (1740–1782). By OSCAR CORNBLIT. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995. Pp. xii, 227.

Ethnicity, Markets, and Migration in the Andes: At the Crossroads of History and Anthropology. Edited by BROOKE LARSON and OLIVIA HARRIS with ENRIQUE TANDETER. Durham: Duke University Press, 1995. Pp. 428.

Andean Journeys: Migration, Ethnogenesis, and the State in Colonial Quito. By KAREN VIERA POWERS. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1995. Pp. xii, 236.

Comercio y fraude en el Perú colonial. Las estrategias mercantiles de un banquero. By MARGARITA SUAREZ. Lima: IEP‐BCR, 1995. Pp. 137.

They Eat from Their Labor: Works and Social Change in Colonial Bolivia. By ANN ZULAWSKI. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1995. Pp. xiv, 283.     

Elites in Local Development in the Philippines

For many Philippine provinces, decentralization and more autonomous local development planning did not lead to the desired outcomes. This article examines the experiences of the two provinces of Cebu and Leyte. While Cebu became a centre of trade and industry, Leyte is still struggling with its local economy oriented to natural resources. A main reason for the divergent development paths of the two islands can be found in the emergence of different elite structures, which resulted in different path‐dependent patterns of economic specialization. Despite this different historical experience, both provinces today suffer from similar institutional infirmities in their planning system for promoting local development. Local planning capacity constraints, such as regional and local co‐ordination and co‐operation patterns, local finances, human capital and knowledge are analysed. The Cebuano elites used the room for manoeuvre provided by decentralization reforms more successfully than elites in Leyte. This created pockets of efficiency in Cebu leading to more development‐friendly investment policies. In order to increase local and regional planning capacity, short‐term interventions and policy reforms at the local, regional and national level are discussed.     

International Accompaniment and Witnessing State Violence in the Philippines

Abstract: This paper is an examination of a fact‐finding mission by Canadian grassroots organizations to the Philippines in November 2006, focused on investigating the large number of extra‐judicial killings that have occurred since 2001. The mission accompanied KARAPATAN, a Philippines‐based human rights organization, with hopes that their international status would allow KARAPATAN access to militarized regions otherwise inaccessible to them, and that the international attention brought by Canadians would protect them from military violence. The paper tackles the ethics, politics and potentials of such international human rights solidarity, and both explores and unsettles conventional concerns about the power dynamics of international solidarity by considering the complexity of the positionings of the Canadian observers. These positionings both reproduce and disrupt static stable geographies of the global North/South. In Central Luzon, for instance, the politics and ethics of their status as outsiders was a persistent issue. In Southern Tagalog, however, the Canadian observers could not quite keep their distance, found that they were not as firmly located in their Canadian identities as they might have supposed, and not only observed but experienced the theatrics of state violence.