The Persistence of Social Differentiation in a Rural Philippine Village

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2006

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Abstract

"This paper examines how unequal commodity relations and reifying ethnic difference sustains social differentiation between so-called uplanders and lowlanders on Palawan Island in the Philippines. Drawing on various case studies, it examines how two seemingly distinct social groups -- migrants and the indigenous Tagbanua -- use their respective positions in society to mark differences in ethnic identity and livelihood, and how despite these differences, many social and economic 'markers' have become blurred. NGOs that borrow and construct notions of indigeneity as a means to facilitate and strengthen their programs, neglect how identity and livelihood overlap among the poor in each group. As NGOs construct and reify notions of indigeneity in support of land claims and conservation, they render ethnic differences explicit and influence how locals act out such differences accordingly. The paper concludes that while NGOs attempt to remedy the long-standing disparities between each social group, their simplification of local landscapes supports earlier stereotypes of people and land uses."

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IASC, social networks, class structure, NGOs, ethnicity

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