Post-Colonial National Identity in the Philippines

Bankoff, Greg; Weekley, Kathleen

• Contents: Introduction: history, the state and national identity; The competition state and national identity; History at the service of the nation-state; Nationalists and national identity; Dissenting voices and the politics of patronage; Heritage, identity and citizenship in a globalizing world; Expo Pilipino and the recolonization of the past; Conclusion: negotiating identity; Bibliography; Index.

’This book is recommended for students and teachers interested in how Post-Colonial states employ nationalism and other ideologies to legitimise their regimes, often in the context of political or economic failure. The Philippines is a good example of the problems of decolonization because national unity was the product of as well as the response to the colonial experience. Bankoff and Weekley have provided us with a readable text, devoid of most current jargon, but incisive and thorough in its analysis. This text is useful for Philippine or Southeast Asian students as well as for scholars interested in a comparative study of the role of the state and its controlling elite in shaping a national consciousness.’ Professor Raul Pertierra, University of New South Wales, Australia ’Globalization has overturned old senses of identity. This book is a thoughtful and readable discussion of the ways in which the Philippines has faced the new world. It is an important contribution to the rapidly expanding research area of comparative global studies, where there are still many gaps to fill. It is the only study of its kind about the Philippines but will also be of great interest to an audience beyond Philippines specialists.’ Alastair Davidson, Member, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton and Professor of Citizenship Studies, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia