Unpacking Climate Justice: What does it mean and entail?
In our concern for an equitable distribution of benefits and resources, we tend to overlook two other critical dimensions of justice: participation and recognition.
All posts filed under: Focus
Unveiling the truth about “women in poverty” in contemporary Japan
Atsumi is twenty-three years old. She has been living in an Internet-Café for two months. She works as a waitress at a coffeehouse, but she may lose the job if the owner finds that she has become homeless. When she was in high school, her father died of cancer, her mother left her, and she withdrew from school. A loan shark has been chasing her after the first loan. She has scarcely been surviving alone (Suzuki 2014: 16-36). Introduction It was in 2015 that the “hinkon joshi,”or women in poverty, which include the likes of Atsumi, suddenly gained public attention in Japan. A documentary by NHK discussed the shocking fact that a third of working women in Japan were poor. Even if they marry, becoming a “wife” would not give them any advantage in contemporary Japanese society; matrimony has not become a realistic measure for women to escape from poverty (NHK Research Group 2014: 64-65). This feminization of poverty is worrying for a country suffering from a declining birth rate. In this essay, I will …
The Philippines – US Bilateral Military Relations: The ties that bind, or so it seems?
In the aftermath of the Second World War, two important agreements that initially defined the legal parameters of US-RP security relations were signed. These are the Philippine-American Military Bases Agreement (MBA) and the Philippine-American Military Assistance Agreement (MAA). In furtherance of these agreements, the two countries also signed a Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) on August 30, 1951. The treaty stipulates that “an armed attack in the Pacific Area on either of the Parties would be dangerous to its own peace and declares that it would act to meet the common dangers in accordance with its own peace and safety… and in accordance with its constitutional processes” (Mutual Defense Treaty between the Republic of the Philippines and the United States of America). Through the MBA, the US initially maintained 23 military installations in the country, including the Clark Air Force Base and the naval installation in Subic Bay, for an initial lease period of 99 years. The MBA, however, was amended in 1979 and updated in 1983 to decrease the lease period to 25 years. The …
On being bobotante: Do we have the monopoly of intelligence?
Casting one’s vote during is not simply an act of choosing candidates – it is a culmination of our past and present social location, the lifelong conditions informed by our class, education, family, and religion that make us who we are and that allow us to arrive at a particular judgment of what is “best.”
The election question: How disconnected are we from rural realities?
While historical causes, political conditions, and entrenched patron-client relationships cannot be discounted in the examination of rural poverty, a rethinking of spatial organization may be in order to avoid the pitfalls of locational biases.
Rodrigo Duterte and the dilemma of masculinity
Duterte’s statement echoes what many in the Philippines believe – that it is normal for men to be philanderers because it is written in their biological make-up. Many believe that men are naturally macho, and women, naturally feminine, because the sexes are born that way.
Jejomar Binay and the ambiguity of defining dynastic politics
While the definition of political dynasty may be problematic as Binay suggests, what constitutes skills, knowledge, and experience is also unclear, and therefore subject to arbitrary interpretation.
Mar Roxas as “ideal”? Presenting the self and Tuwid na Daan
What these candidates articulate about themselves and their platforms is part of what sociologist Erving Goffman calls ‘impression management.’ In the attempt to control situations, individuals act on the basis of impression management.
How Miriam Santiago makes us rethink our sovereignty
Should the Philippines continue to depend on its erstwhile colonizer for the defense of its territorial waters? Or should the Philippines take a more independent stand and try to deal with the issue through negotiations with China?
Is Grace Poe inexperienced in a credentialist society?
She was hailed as the “most prepared” of all the presidential candidates during the debate. An irony in view of a campaign constantly hounded by accusations of her inexperience, something that did not escape the scrutiny of the audience and the other presidential aspirants.
VERSTEHEN 