July 7, 2011
Journal of Agrarian Change
Abstract:
The decades-old conflict in Mindanao, southern Philippines, is often framed as a Muslim–
Christian conflict and reinterpreted as such within the US-led global war on terror, with the
Muslim secessionist movement standing accused of providing a hub for international jihad.
In the meantime, global economic integration has made it easier to ignore the agrarian roots
of violent conflict in Mindanao, enabling national and sub-national actors, including the
international community and the Muslim or Moro separatists, to dismiss the issue of
agrarian justice. We counter these arguments by using an agrarian political economy
framework to uncover the roots of resilient violence in Mindanao, using historical narratives
of the region from the end of the nineteenth century that accentuate the links between
state-making, control of land and labour, and processes of agrarian modernization. We
emphasize the critical role played by the Muslim landed elites who shaped processes of
state-making by brokering the interests of their clans with exogenous actors at the national
and international level.We shed light on emerging state policies and competing interests
among other landed and agribusiness elites that resulted in the spread of a parallel
underground economy, renewing opportunities for violence and crime within semiautonomous
social worlds....
January 12, 2011
Institute for British-Irish Studies // University College Dublin
Abstract:
This paper examines the peace process in Mindanao, Philippines, situating it within broader national and international political economies. The paper argues that the root causes of the conflict can be found in the long-term processes of state formation and capital penetration in the region which have resulted in the displacement and marginalization of the indigenous groups of Mindanao under consecutive Spanish, American, and independent Philippines control. Examining the peace process within this context, it argues that mainstream approaches to peace processes that focus on particular “actors” (e.g. spoilers, third party interventions) and “technologies” (e.g. commitment mechanisms) provide some insights into the failure to achieve a lasting peace in the region, but that a full explanation requires consideration of two further issues. Firstly, formal peace processes are often embedded within wider developmental programmes and the tensions and interactions within this broader dynamic are important to understand. In Mindanao, while the formal peace process has moved towards explicitly addressing root concerns of the local population, the wider “peace through development” package promoted by the international community is, in fact, exacerbating many of the economic tensions behind the conflict. Secondly, in localized conflict such as Mindanao, it is important to examine the peace process within the broader political context of the country in question. In the Philippines, opposition to the peace settlement has, in recent times, been used for political opportunism by opposition forces at the national level. Similarly, for incumbent presidents, a return to militaristic solutions and associated nationalist agenda has been used as a way to shore up popular support in the rest of the country, undermining moves towards peace....
January 7, 2011
Journal on Rehabilitation of Torture Victims and Prevention of Torture
Abstract:
The
desk study on “The use of medical evidence
and expert opinions in international and
regional judicial mechanism and in selected
domestic jurisdictions” aims to provide an
insight into how medical evidence is viewed
and evaluated in court proceedings on alleged
torture cases today. The study looks
into the procedural rules as well as the
practice relating to evaluation of medical
evidence and expert opinions by the relevant
tribunals. The special issue further features
studies on investigations and evidence collection
in selected domestic jurisdictions
in torture cases. These studies have been
conducted in five countries from different
regions and with differing legal systems –
Ecuador, Georgia, Lebanon, The Philippines
and Uganda. In these countries the IRCT
has, for a number of years, worked with
local members and partners to promote the
value and use of medical documentation of
torture.
Our hope is that the study may serve
as a reference document for those involved
in legal cases seeking to prove allegations
of torture through the submission of medical
evidence or wishing to advocate legal
changes in this area....
November 5, 2010
German Institute of Global and Area Studies // GIGA Institute of Asian Studies
Abstract:
The case of the Philippines provides an interesting example of how post-colonial governments in Southeast Asia are trying to govern multi-ethnic nations. The Philippines, despite being the country in Asia with the most vibrant civil society, is still dealing with a war on the southern island of Mindanao – a war fuelled by, rather than abated by, national dynamics of identity-construction and social practices of democracy. This paper looks into these protracted national dynamics and their influence on the conflict in Mindanao. It further contrasts those with local, predominantly civil-society-based, approaches of identity re-construction and decision-making that have changed the situation for many communities on the ground, but that haven’t so far had much impact on the national setting. Therefore, the final part of the paper assesses the impact of local civil-society initiatives and draws conclusions on how those could provide blue¬prints for national solutions and complement high-level peace talks....
August 24, 2010
Global Consortium on Security Transformation
Abstract:
This paper is interested in explaining the persistence and steady expansion of the sphere of
military autonomy in spite of democratization and how it aects security sector transformation
(SST). It argues that SST processes will be constrained, limited, and even undermined so long
as the military enjoys signi cant degrees of political autonomy in three ways. First, a relatively
autonomous military will likely de ne and dominate the framework of SST in a given country.
This implies that programs that will reform the military will likely not produce the intended
results of democratic civilian control. Second, any gains or positive outcomes generated by transforming the security sector will likely be jeopardized by the military since they have the power
to stifle or undermine these reforms. Finally, military autonomy in certain areas such as human
rights and security policy hinders the participation of other actors, notably civil society in being
able to influence and contribute to SST initiatives. Using the case of the Philippines, this study
seeks to examine these three causal mechanisms that link military autonomy with the space
or opportunities for governments to implement programs and policies that could transform the
security sector....
Philippines 
