Electoral Dystopias in the Philippines: From Colonial Democracy to Duterte and the Return of the Marcoses
Wednesday 25 May, 4:00 - 5:30pm
Against the backdrop of the final days of the Duterte presidency and the recent election of Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr. in the Philippines, this talk will examine the colonial roots of elections in the organization of native collaboration and counterinsurgency under Spain and the US. The introduction of democratic practices tended to produce undemocratic social relations in the making of Philippine modernity. It argues that elections in the Philippines--and perhaps elsewhere--faces two ways: in the stimulation of democratic impulses and ambitions among a people seeking social change, but also in the foreclosure and containment of such tendencies. Drawing on the author's recent book The Sovereign Trickster: Death and Laughter in the Age of Duterte (Duke University Press, 2022), the talk will conclude with a look at contemporary practices today and the results of the 2022 presidential elections.
Speaker: Professor Vicente L. Rafael (Professor of History and Southeast Asian Studies at the University of Washington in Seattle)
Chair: Prof. John Sidel (Sir Patrick Gillam Chair in International and Comparative Politics, LSE SEAC Associate)