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State and Society in the Philippines
People in the Philippines routinely vote, run for office, organize social movements, and call for good governance by the state. Why, then, is there a recurring state-society dilemma in the Philippines? One horn of the dilemma is the persistent inability of the state to provide basic services, guarantee peace and order, and foster economic development. The other is Filipinos' equally enduring suspicion of a strong state. The idea of a strong Republic evokes President Marcos' martial law regime of the 1970s and 1980s, which spawned two armed rebellions, cost thousands of lives in repression and billions of dollars in corruption, set the nation back years in economic development, and exacerbated suspicion of the state. This dilemma stimulates thinking about the puzzle of state How has a 'weak state' maintained the territorial integrity of the Philippines in the postwar period in the face of two major rebellions and an armed separatist movement, corruption, mismanagement, intractable poverty, weak sovereignty, and an often chaotic electoral system? Why does the inability to collect taxes, secure citizens' lives and property, and maintain economic infrastructure not result in state failure? State and Society in the Philippines engages the dilemma of state-society relations through a historical treatment of state formation and the corresponding conflicts and collaborations between state leaders and social forces. It examines the long history of institutional state weakness in the Philippines and the efforts made to overcome the state's structural fragility and strengthen its bond with society. It answers these difficult questions by focusing on how the state has shaped and been shaped by its interaction with social forces, especially in the rituals of popular mobilization that have produced surprising and diverse results.
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First published January 1, 2005
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About the author
Patricio N. Abinales
19 books13 followersPatricio “Jojo” Abinales grew up on the northwestern side of the Philippine island of Mindanao. He graduated with a degree in History from the University of the Philippines-Diliman (UP) and worked at UP for nine years. In 1988, he was awarded the Cornell University Southeast Asia Program Fellowship for Southeast Asians and headed to Ithaca, New York to pursue graduate studies in Government and Asian Studies under the supervision of Benedict R’OG Anderson. He completed his Ph.D. in 1997. He taught at the Department of Political Science at Ohio University from 1997 to 1999 before moving to the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at Kyoto University in 2000.
From 2010-2011, Jojo was a visiting scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington DC, where he did research on the political economy of US economic assistance in Muslim Mindanao. In 2011 he joined the faculty of the Asian Studies Program at UH-Manoa.
From 2010-2011, Jojo was a visiting scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington DC, where he did research on the political economy of US economic assistance in Muslim Mindanao. In 2011 he joined the faculty of the Asian Studies Program at UH-Manoa.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
April 30, 2025
This book is a solid survey of the history of the Philippines, focused a lot of politics and state building. It can be dry but it is comprehensive and the best overview that I've seen on this topic. As other reviews have noted, most other books that claim to be national histories of the Philippines can be heavily skewed in certain directions, while this one maintains a neutral stance towards nearly everything that it can. My favorite thing about this book is the inclusion of interesting primary sources in each chapter and how well organized the book is.
August 14, 2012
This is my "Academic Bible". The first time I ever read this book was during my Political dynamics course in College. Now, I am using it in my History class and fortunately this is a required reading in my MAPS core course in UP Asian Center.
October 6, 2020
It’s quite dry but sufficiently informative for both the local and foreign reader, and a pretty good overview of Philippine history and its many complexities.
February 4, 2023
Finding a survey history of the Philippines to read before (and, due to my laziness, during) my trip there proved surprisingly difficult. There’s a recent one from a British journalist that’s gotten awful reviews; some older ones by leftist Filipino academics in the ‘70s and ‘80s that seemed interesting but not really the novice’s overview I was looking for.
Eventually I saw this assigned on a University of Washington course syllabus as the accepted academic survey, despite its technical-sounding name that seems more political science than history (indeed, that’s the field of one author). Combined with some light chauvinism on my part (my mom went to UH, this is by UH profs, gotta keep it in the `ohana) that was enough for me.
There’s a definite bias toward the post-independence period and the latter chapters new to the second edition feel like appendages that weren’t fully integrated … because that’s what they are. It’s very funny that in the Benny Aquino chapter, the authors praise a number of mayors they see as unusually effective, like Rodrigo Duterte, and then in the next chapter they’re like “so our president is this fascist guy Duterte.”
But overall it was exactly what I needed, and benefits from having a highly opinionated analytic standpoint, implied in the title. You can tell a country’s history any number of ways: through its geography, its cultural productions, its mythology and gossip, its battles and wars. This is the story of the Philippines as told through its efforts, and those of the Spanish and Americans, to turn it into a proper state capable of raising revenue, suppressing revolts, and challenging old patrimonial networks for power.
That turns out to be a particularly useful lens here, because, as the first paragraph of any Philippine history tells you, the idea that this particular set of islands make up one entity was a Spanish invention, one the Moro rebels (a term, I didn’t know until reading this, was the result of the Spanish applying the word “Moor” to a different Muslim community) still reject vehemently. Turning an archipelago of local communities (barangays) led by not-quite-hereditary chiefs (datus) into a cohesive state is a massive endeavor and one that progressed much less than I had thought by the end of Spanish rule.
I don’t know that this was the authors’ main takeaway, but I was left amazed the state works as well as it does, given how poor the state building of the Spanish and Americans was, and how deeply Marcos pillaged what state existed in 1965.
Eventually I saw this assigned on a University of Washington course syllabus as the accepted academic survey, despite its technical-sounding name that seems more political science than history (indeed, that’s the field of one author). Combined with some light chauvinism on my part (my mom went to UH, this is by UH profs, gotta keep it in the `ohana) that was enough for me.
There’s a definite bias toward the post-independence period and the latter chapters new to the second edition feel like appendages that weren’t fully integrated … because that’s what they are. It’s very funny that in the Benny Aquino chapter, the authors praise a number of mayors they see as unusually effective, like Rodrigo Duterte, and then in the next chapter they’re like “so our president is this fascist guy Duterte.”
But overall it was exactly what I needed, and benefits from having a highly opinionated analytic standpoint, implied in the title. You can tell a country’s history any number of ways: through its geography, its cultural productions, its mythology and gossip, its battles and wars. This is the story of the Philippines as told through its efforts, and those of the Spanish and Americans, to turn it into a proper state capable of raising revenue, suppressing revolts, and challenging old patrimonial networks for power.
That turns out to be a particularly useful lens here, because, as the first paragraph of any Philippine history tells you, the idea that this particular set of islands make up one entity was a Spanish invention, one the Moro rebels (a term, I didn’t know until reading this, was the result of the Spanish applying the word “Moor” to a different Muslim community) still reject vehemently. Turning an archipelago of local communities (barangays) led by not-quite-hereditary chiefs (datus) into a cohesive state is a massive endeavor and one that progressed much less than I had thought by the end of Spanish rule.
I don’t know that this was the authors’ main takeaway, but I was left amazed the state works as well as it does, given how poor the state building of the Spanish and Americans was, and how deeply Marcos pillaged what state existed in 1965.
June 5, 2023
Just finished this book, which I expected to be dry and dreary, but turned out to be far more readable than its drab cover suggests.
That's not to say that it isn't depressing, because one of its themes is the brokenness of the Philippines. Our country is ruled by families that earned their riches unfairly and arbitrarily through centuries-old patronage networks, and their biggest motivation is to hold on to those advantages. Reforms happen occasionally, but only to the extent that enough citizens are pacified enough not to challenge the status quo.
More optimistically, another one of the book's themes is that time and again, the Philippines benefits from "islands of state strength in an ocean of weakness." These islands of state strength may be government agencies that actually fulfill their mandates, politicians who call out their own, or civil organizations that gain enough influence to force the state to fulfill their contract with society.
I recommend this book to anyone interested in a clear-eyed history of the Philippines and an even-keeled discussion of the roles that institutions--the executive and legislative, the armed forces, civil societies, the Church, Muslims, the Chinese, the US and the international community, sectors of the Left, etc.--play in our lives.
That's not to say that it isn't depressing, because one of its themes is the brokenness of the Philippines. Our country is ruled by families that earned their riches unfairly and arbitrarily through centuries-old patronage networks, and their biggest motivation is to hold on to those advantages. Reforms happen occasionally, but only to the extent that enough citizens are pacified enough not to challenge the status quo.
More optimistically, another one of the book's themes is that time and again, the Philippines benefits from "islands of state strength in an ocean of weakness." These islands of state strength may be government agencies that actually fulfill their mandates, politicians who call out their own, or civil organizations that gain enough influence to force the state to fulfill their contract with society.
I recommend this book to anyone interested in a clear-eyed history of the Philippines and an even-keeled discussion of the roles that institutions--the executive and legislative, the armed forces, civil societies, the Church, Muslims, the Chinese, the US and the international community, sectors of the Left, etc.--play in our lives.
January 9, 2023
A very dry and academic read, but for those interested in a general history of the Philippines, this has been recommended to a lot of people as a great start.
The authors view Philippine history through the lens of the relationship between State and Society, and tries to draw an honest look at Philippine governance and society.
As for me, I learned a lot after reading it and you would be able to see how the state changes and grows with a lot of interesting facts and statistics from every era of Philippine governance. Through our pre-colonial, Spanish, American, and eventually our current form of government, you would be able to agree or at least see the validity in the statement that "All politics is local"
The authors view Philippine history through the lens of the relationship between State and Society, and tries to draw an honest look at Philippine governance and society.
As for me, I learned a lot after reading it and you would be able to see how the state changes and grows with a lot of interesting facts and statistics from every era of Philippine governance. Through our pre-colonial, Spanish, American, and eventually our current form of government, you would be able to agree or at least see the validity in the statement that "All politics is local"
August 19, 2025
Only took me 5 months to read this book… But I can say I know a lot more about the homeland now. Very comprehensive book sometimes could be tiring to read but that could have also been the fact that I took notes on every single page. Free the Philippines Fr, in like a oh one day the politicians won’t be so corrupt but also maybe the US won’t have such an influence there. Colonization ruined many things, but the Philippines didn’t even gain independence till after World war 2 and they weren’t even really “free” yet. Long way to come long way to go. Professing it now, If I get into history honors I’ll write a thesis about US and Philippine relations in a why tf were we a commonwealth kinda way.
June 8, 2023
Despite my procrastinating bum reading this as a part of my weekly polsci suffering, I actually enjoyed this one and there's so so many things that made me pissed (ehem chapter 8)! This book is written so suitably for us students with a pea-sized level of professional academic reading comprehension and I swear to the Lord in His Holy Name that I thanked Him I understood a lot reading this because that New Handbook of Political Science by Goodin and Klingemann made me tear my brains out from the abode of my skull!
I passed in my major subject reading this one so you know you're in good hands <3
I passed in my major subject reading this one so you know you're in good hands <3
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June 8, 2023good stuff lol
this book has singlehandedly saved me from being a clueless failing mf in three subjects so far, and I argue it will continue to do so until even after I graduate
thank u god Abinales and Amoroso amen
this book has singlehandedly saved me from being a clueless failing mf in three subjects so far, and I argue it will continue to do so until even after I graduate
thank u god Abinales and Amoroso amen
June 10, 2022
finished this for my major subject…. it was so hard to fathom every ph history details
April 28, 2024
comprehensive and exhaustive, felt slightly textbook (because it is a textbook) in its coverage and pov
March 13, 2014
I haven't read the whole thing; I only did for about 250 pages or so. I would have finished the book, only I was too busy with other school requirements. I have an exam today for my history class and I only started reading it yesterday. The book was readable, although I'd say that the set-up or the foundation didn't really suit my liking - I was expecting more details for some topics (such as the presidency during the post-war), but I didn't get some of them. Certainly, I got the gist of what was happening, but in other areas I wanted to learn more, there was a lack of information. (Perhaps, the problem is on me and not on the writers.) State and Society in the Philippines isn't hard to understand, but it isn't the friendliest history book either. Nonetheless, it was a sufficient read.
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July 4, 2017asdfghjkl
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews