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Nation, Self and Citizenship: An Invitation To Philippine Sociology

This book review summarizes the collection of essays in Randolf S. David's book "Nation, Self and Citizenship". The book contains articles written by David, a prominent Filipino sociologist, covering various topics on nationalism, identity and citizenship. It aims to provide students an accessible introduction to sociology through David's use of ordinary language rather than academic jargon. However, the review notes that without proper guidance from an experienced teacher, the collection risks giving an incomplete impression of sociology as consisting of short sketches rather than rigorous empirical research.

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127 views3 pages

Nation, Self and Citizenship: An Invitation To Philippine Sociology

This book review summarizes the collection of essays in Randolf S. David's book "Nation, Self and Citizenship". The book contains articles written by David, a prominent Filipino sociologist, covering various topics on nationalism, identity and citizenship. It aims to provide students an accessible introduction to sociology through David's use of ordinary language rather than academic jargon. However, the review notes that without proper guidance from an experienced teacher, the collection risks giving an incomplete impression of sociology as consisting of short sketches rather than rigorous empirical research.

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gia nna
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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BOOK REVIEW

NATION, SELF AND CITIZENSHIP

NATION, SELF and CITIZENSHIP:


An Invitation to Philippine Sociology

Randolf S. David
Published by the Department of Sociology,
University of the Philippines, Diliman
2002, xiii, 368 pp. ISBN 971-8953-01-9

Raul Pertierra

This is a collection of short essays written by Randy David, one of


the Philippines’ foremost sociologists. David is also one of its few serious
newspaper writers. This is a collection of his articles that have appeared
over the last seven years in the Philippine Daily Inquirer. They are far-ranging,
covering issues such as martial law, child sexuality, poverty and Asian values.
They also include reflective pieces on his family and early memories as well
as theoretical reflections on globalization, postmodernity and the mass
media. David brings his incisive analysis on these topics using mostly
ordinary language rather than the abstract discourse of academics.

This diverse collection of articles is divided into sections on


nationalism, identity and citizenship. Each section is introduced by his
former students, now his colleagues in the Department of Sociology at
U.P. The latter set of essays is more conventionally academic and attempts
to theoretically contextualize the areas under consideration. They also try
to bring together the scattered musings of David.

As a teacher of sociology, I am always torn between providing


students with accessible articles on contemporary issues and introducing
them into the specialist language of social science. The former allows students
to appreciate a sociological approach to social issues, while the latter provides
them with a more distanced perspective that science (albeit social) requires.
One’s approach to this pedagogical problem depends both on the selectivity
of students entering university and the importance given to everyday
knowledge as an approach to social science.

Filipino university students approach sociology with three main


difficulties. First, they are much younger than their foreign counterparts
and have not had sufficient scholarly formation, including the more

88 SOCIAL SCIENCE DILIMAN (July-December 2001) 2:2


2:2, 88-90
R. PERTIERRA

specialized training found in overseas curricula. Second, they have to use a


foreign language (English) which, despite its general familiarity, is
insufficiently developed for abstract reflection. Third, they have grown up
in a society with very few developed sociological concepts. This last refers
to the lack of a secular consciousness and awareness of society as a system or
structure of consensual norms. Society is presented as a natural and moral
entity rather than a political and legal artifact. Difference and dissent are
difficult to regulate if they are seen as emerging out of a pre-given world
whose main contours are unquestionable. Since sociology is an empirical
discipline, its conclusions depend on verifiable data that, in the Philippines,
are often unavailable.

Filipinos also have certain advantages in learning sociology. Their


concepts of society and the individual, however limited, are often based on
direct experience rather than mediated through ideologized institutions
such as the family, schooling and the state. They hold an irreverent attitude
toward the verities of public life, making its questioning much easier than
in western societies with ‘politically correct’ views on most things. Filipinos
can also cope much better than most westerners with the inevitable
contradictions and perplexities of modern life without the temptation to
grossly simplify them. There may be many superstitious and ignorant
Filipinos but very few genuine fanatics. Almost anything can be an object
of fun and mockery. In an often and increasingly incomprehensible world,
mirth is the only reasonable response.

Under these conditions, how appropriate is a collection of short


newspaper articles as an introduction to a serious academic discipline such
as sociology? Like most things, it depends on the teacher using it. In the
hands of an experienced teacher, who is able to draw out more detailed
arguments from the undeveloped and unverified points suggested by David,
this book can be a very useful way of showing the relevance of the discipline
to unspecialized students. It may in fact stimulate them to pursue these
questions more systematically in advanced courses. But in the hands of a
poorly prepared teacher, eager to appear informed on a wide range of topics,
its effects may be counterproductive. It can give rise to an impression that
sociology consists of short, incisive and suggestive sketches, bricolage, rather
than serious empirical and theoretical investigations of social life.

But David’s book may find supporters among postmodern theorists


who claim that social life consists of everyday knowledge and that claims of
scientificity for the discipline are dangerous and delusional. In this sense,

89
NATION, SELF AND CITIZENSHIP

short prose wihout jargon based on common-sense understanding is the


best we can aim at. In fact, David’s book is an excellent example for this
argument, much better than its Gallic counterparts whose opacity exceeds
most positivist texts. David’s book is a good illustration of the strengths
and weaknesses of Philippine sociology. It is down-to-earth, accessible and
unpretentious, nay, even inspirational and literary. But it is also
impressionistic and episodic, like the musings of a novella rather than a
systematically argued treatise. The scientific study of Philippine society
assumes the existence of a body of ascertained facts often presently
unavailable. Reliable census data, trustworthy institutional sources, relatively
effective bureaucratic structures and scientifically trained investigators are
still fairly rare. Under these conditions, Philippine sociology remains, at
best, a science of the future, assuming, that is, that the country has a
future.

Date Received: April 30, 2004

Dr. Raul Pertierra is a Professorial Lecturer at the Asian Center, University of the Philippines
Diliman.

90

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