Tonan Talk: “Globalization, the changing face of the Philippine bourgeoisie, and strategy of the Communist Party of the Philippines”

Date: January 9th, 2014, 12:00 – 13:30
Venue: Tonan-tei (Room No. 201), CSEAS, Inamori Foundation Memorial Building, Kyoto University

Title: “Globalization, the changing face of the Philippine bourgeoisie, and strategy of the Communist Party of the Philippines”

Speaker: Joseph Scalice, University of California Berkeley

Abstract:
The question of the relations of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) to sections of the Philippine ‘national bourgeoisie’, and in particular its leading political figures, has been a defining one throughout the history of the party. The impetus for these ties is codified in the basic theoretical documents of the CPP, in particular the formulations regarding the ‘national democratic revolution’ to be carried out by a ‘bloc of four classes.’

In this paper, I trace the evolution of these ties from the early inspiration which the founders drew from Claro M. Recto in the formative days of the CPP, through various forms of alliance and collaboration, to the present role played by the various party list organizations organized in the Makabayan coalition.

I argue that despite the persistent theoretical orientation provided by the founding documents of the movement, the relations of the Party to mainstream political figures has gone through a fundamental shift, from a policy of negotiated collaboration to a push for full incorporation into official politics.

This reorientation of the party is bound up not with changes in the leadership of the CPP, but rather, with the impact of globalization on the viability of the nationalist project.

About the presenter:
Joseph Scalice is a doctoral candidate at the University of California Berkeley. He is currently completing his dissertation on a history of the Maoist Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). Joseph Scalice wrote his master’s thesis on an extended critical re-examination of Reynaldo Ileto’s Pasyon and Revolution. Joseph Scalice grew up in the Philippines and has lived there for over 20 years.

Moderator:
Hau Caroline, CSEAS, Kyoto University

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