KMP: Movement Generation, Activity, and Continuity in Philippine Society INTRODUCTION Social movements are complex enduring collectivities that involve varying of degrees collective action and mobilization, organization, and continuity, and a world outlook that defines the range of their goals. Movements operate in different environments. They are continually influenced by social events and processes external to them. Movements, in turn, work to influence the same events and processes relevant to their existence and operations. In essence, the emergence or generation, activity, and continuity of enduring social collectivities constitute movement dynamics. I derive this perspective from three theorists and authors whose general and specific definitions of social movements are pertinent to my study. McAdam (1997: xviii) defines a social movement as “a collectivity acting with some degree of organization and continuity outside of institutional channels for the purpose of promoting or resisting change in the group, society, or world order of which it is a part”. More specifically, Tarrow (1998: 4) refer to social movements as “those sequences of contentious politics that are based on underlying social networks and resonant collective action frames, and which develop the capacity to maintain sustained challenges against powerful opponents”. And in contrasting social movements with other social actors, Scott (1990: 6) states that “they are distinguished from other collective actors, such as political parties and pressure groups, in that they have mass mobilization, or the threat of mobilization, as their prime source of social sanction, and hence of power. They are further distinguished from other collectivities, such as voluntary associations or clubs, in being chiefly concerned to defend or change society”. The persistence of social movements in the 21st century is instructive in that they continue to play a significant role in society, specifically as oppositional forces. KMP: Movement Generation, Activity, and Continuity in Philippine Society Most social movement theories and approaches, however, have “analyzed social movement organizations from a reform perspective, emphasizing movement participants' demands to be recognized by, and incorporated into, the dominant culture” (Fitzgerald and Rodgers, 2000: 573-574). This tendency or practice creates a gap in comprehending the totality of social movements because radical organizations are evaluated or studied primarily in terms of their impact to other moderate or conservative organizations and their impact on public policy (ibid.). But radical organizations, like the KMP, not primarily aim to influence public policy or other organizations. The breakdown perspective or the collective behavior theory, resource mobilization theory, political process model, and new social movement approach, nonetheless, offer useful guiding concepts to the study of social movements. Their application, however, should not be mechanical to put into effect a contextualized examination of radical social movements especially those in the Third World. From another related angle, it is very tempting to dismiss the role of ideology in analyzing present day movements. “Ideology”, as Buechler (2000: 200) puts it, “has become an orphan in social movement theory”. Yet some of the most active movements in the Third World today are intensely ideological (Jimenez, 2002: 56), even in advanced capitalist countries. Moreover, “the social movement theory of the ‘end of ideology’ is premature, and it limits our ability to conceptualize the larger role of ideas in activism” (op. cit.). Ideology likewise defines the orientations of social movement organizations, which in turn explain to a significant degree the nature and extent of their engagements with the state and other social forces. In social movement studies, peasant movements and politics have received wide attention while “literature on peasant politics is dominated by a rich and See Chapter I, A (1-4) for an elaborate discussion of social movement theories and Chapter I, A (5) and B for their applicability in the study of KMP. KMP: Movement Generation, Activity, and Continuity in Philippine Society eloquent discussion of violent peasant rebellion and revolution” (Fox, 1990). However, after the proliferation of classic peasant revolt literature in the late 1960s and the 1970s, organized rural struggles again threate n to become hidden histories in the 1990s (Starn, 1992: 91-92). The situation could be attributed to at least two reasons. First, scholars have turned their attention towards the everyday forms of peasant resistance (Fox, 1990: 3).2 Second, more scholars have also shifted their focus on ‘new social movements’ emphasizing urban politics and investigating organizations such as human rights, environmental, gender, and ethnic/racial movements (see also Edelman, 1999: 17) . Moreover, Starn (1992: 91) critically claimed that “peasant mobilization has received little attention in the literature on new social movements due to the greater visibility of urban politics ” (citing the studies of Touraine 1981, 1988a; Laclau and Mouffe 1985; Gilroy 1987).3 More deeply, “it is easy” according to him “to ignore or dismiss peasant organizing as outdated class politics”. And as the “everyday forms of resistance” (Scott, 1985) paradigm dominates the field of peasant or rural studies (Fletcher, 2001), the tendency to loose sight of the frequency and force of open peasant movements or collective radical action (Starn, 1992: 92) exists. A. Background of the Study Among others, I note two exceptions to this assumption. First, Lichbach (1994: 383-418) examined three different forms of peasant struggles – everyday forms of peasant resistance, unorganized rural movements, and organized peasant rebellions using the concept of “selective incentives” to demonstrate how peasants solve Olson’s paradox of collective action. Second and a very recent one, Korovkin (2000: 1-19) examined the relationship between hidden resistance and the rise of political organization in the analysis of land struggles in the Ecuadorean Andes. The article emphasized on the structural context and cultural underpinning of both covert and overt peasant actions. See Chapter I, A (4) for an elaborate discussion of the new social movement approach. I personally possess this bias in looking at Scott’s works. In fairness to him, however, his “moral economy” perspective is “not concerned with the broader question of peasant revolution” (Scott, 1976: 194 also cited in Hawes, 1990: 264). And on his “weapons of the weak” approach to the study of resistance, he later asserted that a “politics of daily resistance… persists whether or not there are mass movements or rebellions and without which mass movement and rebellions cannot be understood” (Scott, 1993: 94 also cited in Gono, 1995: 13). KMP: Movement Generation, Activity, and Continuity in Philippine Society The Philippines offers an interesting landscape for the study of social movements, specifically those with more radical orie ntations. A brief look at the country’s characteristics and historical conditions pertinent to the thriving of social movements describes the milieu of the whole study. First, foreign powers (Spain, U.S., Japan, and U.S. again) took turns in colonizing and controlling the country. Centuries of colonization and decades of neocolonization left an indelible mark in the country’s social, political, economic, cultural, and military system. An equally interesting part in this peculiar political history, however , lies in the process how Filipinos responded to these aggressions. In all historical accounts, various movements emerged and launched numerous armed and unarmed oppositions in which peasants and other rural sectors played a major role. This second condition points to the long and militant Filipino tradition of peasant and nationalist uprisings and revolution against foreign and domestic powers. Another condition conducive to protest and agrarian “unrest” is embedded in the country’s agrarian landscape. Land ownership and control in the Philippines is concentrated in the hands of a few and agrarian reform laws and policies have been inefficient and ineffective in addressing rural inequalities and violence (see also Fox, 1990: 6). Peasant politics in the Philippines thrives and revolves around the issue of effecting a thorough agrarian reform and rural development program. Fourth, Philippine society has undergone significant political changes in the last four decades. It has “experienced a pattern of populist and clientelist party competition, dictatorship, and return to civilian rule” (Fox, 1990: 6). This was followed by a regime that aimed to project a “strong state” image and perceived to have enhanced the country’s “competitiveness” while still being captured by the oligarchy (Rivera, 1996) and the ephemeral reign of another ‘populist’ president. KMP: Movement Generation, Activity, and Continuity in Philippine Society State changes point to another condition in Philippine society that structure the opportunities open to social movements in advancing their interests and goals. Peasant movements in particular have responded variably to state changes and agrarian policies of different governments. Fifth, organized protest has been an outstanding feature of Philippine politics for the past several decades and social movements have figured prominently in protest activities. Specifically, two political revolutions backed up by large-scale street demonstrations and organized protests ousted the Marcos dictatorship in February 1986 and the Estrada regime in January 2001. Boudreau (2001: 19-20) captures the complex configuration of protest organizations in Philippine society. “The most obvious distinction between movement (organizations and) networks are ideological shadings from left to right, but the history of Philippine protest has largely been a history of Marxist, social democratic, socialist, communist, or liberal organizations”… Philippine protest organizations are confoundingly involuted. Most groups contain (1) one or more leading political organizations, representing one vision of different shades of the same idea; (2) NGOs, unions, education centers, research groups, and other institutions staffed by movement organizers or analysts; (3) sectoral mass organizations; and, often, (4) underground or armed components…” The convergence of the aforesaid historical conditions significantly influenced the orientation and political practices of Philippine social movements in the last four decades. Today, critical segments of the Philippine leftist movement still embark on nationalist and anti-colonial programmes and ideologies. Compared to other Southeast Asian countries (e.g., Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand) and many parts of the world, the leftist movements in this country have not been (completely) vanquished by the state and forces that are reactionary to leftist ideals. Organized protests and struggles predominantly emanate from these organizations. In social movement nomenclature, this ensemble of movement organizations could clinically be referred to as a “social movement industry” (see also Boudreau, 2001: 19). KMP: Movement Generation, Activity, and Continuity in Philippine Society B. Problematique and Objectives of the Study This study is about KMP (Peasant Movement of the Philippines), a radical peasant movement. The study revolves basically around two arguments. Very similar with the claim of Fitzgerald and Rodgers (2001), I argue that KMP, as radical social movement, should be primarily studied or investigated based on processes and structures internal to itself – ideology and consciousness building, organization, mobilization, and assessment of outc omes. By focusing on these aspects, radical organizations could be understood in their own terms and best differentiated with other movement organizations. Second, social movements are a structural, historical and dialectical phenomenon and process. Movements are structural in the sense that they are not separate from and are continually influenced by their environment. They are likewise historical on two counts. First, movements not “suddenly” appear. As Isaacman (1993: 254) puts it, “(rural) social movements are not just momentary aberrations, but are often part of a long oppositional history which over time took many shapes and forms, part of a larger engagement in the political world”. Another dimension that explains the historical nature of protest is that it is not “radically discontinuous from other aspects or periods in participants’ lives” (Boudreau, 2001: 165). And they are dialectical because they exist and interact with other forces in society and in the process of engagement they transform or reproduce society and vice versa. In this respect, I employ a contextualized approach to the study of KMP and take into account the movement’s politics at the different levels level of engagement, the broader social processes and conditions, and the processes and structures internal Fitzgerald and Rodgers (2001: 573) proposes an alternative approach by utilizing what they call as “ideal type characteristics for the internal structure, ideology, tactics, methods of communication, and measures of success that differentiate radical organizations from their moderate, reformist counterparts.” KMP: Movement Generation, Activity, and Continuity in Philippine Society to the movement. The examination of these three aspects bridges the twin argument of a grounded and qualified study of a radical social movement organization. This approach, nonetheless, embarks on the basic concepts offered by social movement theories like the resource mobilization theory, the political process model, the breakdown theory, and the new social movement approach, e.g., organization, resources, political opportunity structure, ideology, identity, mobilization space and structures, and assessment of movement outcomes and consequences. If organized protest has been a defining character of Philippine politics, how peasant social movements advance their agenda of social reform and transformation in Philippine society? At what levels and with what means they carry out opposition? How broader social conditions and processes affect movement orientation, options, and tactics? How internal processes and structures shape the character and dynamics of movements themselves? Anchored on the aforesaid problematique, the study aims to conceptualize movement dynamics by examining the interplay of social processes and conditions (external factors) and movement processes and structures (internal factors) at the different le vels of engagement. The central objective has three corollaries. First, I investigate the conditions of movement emergence and development in Philippine rural society to explain the structural causes of agrarian protest. Second, I analyze specific processe s and structures internal (but not exclusive) to radical movements to underscore how organizations operate in their environments. Third, I probe on the different levels where KMP launches its oppositional politics to demonstrate the scope and range of protest that movements carry out in Philippine society. Embedded in the problematique and objectives of the study are empirical research questions that need to be addressed. They are as follows: KMP: Movement Generation, Activity, and Continuity in Philippine Society 1. What critical social conditions and how have their convergence facilitated the emergence and development of peasant organizations and movements in Philippine society? What are the basic concerns of peasant organizations and movements and to what social forces, structures, or processes they address their demands? 2. How have past and present organizations interacted or dealt state and dominant social forces in Philippine society? How changing and unchanging character of Philippine state and society influence the range of militancy of activities and options open to peasant organizations? with the does the agrarian political 3. What specific and general conditions contributed to the establishment of the KMP? What are the political, organizational, and ideological characteristics of the movement? Given its national democratic orientation, how does the movement measure the appropriateness or even the validity of this standpoint vis-à-vis the present state of Philippine society? 4. At what levels does KMP challenge the state and other dominant forces in Philippine society? How and why does the movement elevate local peasant struggles to the national level and the national struggles to the international level? 5. In what arenas of struggle does the movement advance the interests of its constituent peasant organizations? As a radical peasant movement, to what extent does it adhere to extra-parliamentary politics? How does the movement measure the correctness of this particular political standpoint and strategy vis -à-vis the advancement of peasant interests? 6. With what specific movement means or processes does KMP initiate and sustain its oppositional activities? How organizational, advocacy and educational, and mobilization work interact? In what terms does the movement assess its achievements in these lines of work? 7. In mobilizing its member organizations and other sections of society, to what processes and structure does the movement rely upon? How political opportunities affect the mobilization of resources, the building and utilization of networks, consciousness-building activities, and the organization of collective action? 8. To what external and internal factors can the movement’s continuity be attributed and how can they be correlated? Can a hierarchy between the two factors be established in its fifteen years of existence? 9. In a span of fifteen years, how have the tactics or actions of the movement changed or varied? What are the changes and innovations in the KMP’s repertoire of protest actions? To what factors or KMP: Movement Generation, Activity, and Continuity in Philippine Society conditions can the se be attributed? Are they relative to space, issue, opportunity, or organizational readiness or capacity? 10. Given its emphasis on long-term societal goals and secondarily on short-term objectives, how does KMP gauge the achievement of movement goals and aims? Specifically, what indicators are used to assess movement successes/gains and failures? 11. How can the correlation between movement processes and structures be explained at the different levels of political engagement? To what extent are these processes and structures dependent on the levels of engagement? C. Significance and Contribution of the Study The perceived contributions of the research to the existing body of knowledge can be categorized under the following topics – social movements, peasant politics, and Philippine political dynamics. By pr oblematizing a radical peasant movement, this research dovetails several important works, concepts, and theories in social movement studies. First, the twin argument of calling for a grounded and qualified approach to the study of KMP is basically an extension of Buechler’s (2000: xiii) structurational approach to collective action and Fitzgerald and Rodgers’ (2000: 573574) “theoretical model of radical social movement organizations”. Second, the consideration of broader social processes and structures are indicative of the recognition of the role that political opportunities play in movement dynamics. An investigation, however, of the dynamics of oppositional movements in the Philippines would reveal that these movements thrive in mixed opportunities. Third, the focus on ideology and consciousness-building acknowledges the important role of “insurgent consciousness” (Smith, 1991) or “cognitive liberation” (McAdam, 1982) in movement activity as emphasized by the political process model. The study asserts that it is not the end of ideology after all. Fourth, the analysis on organization derives from the major concerns of both the resource mobilization See Chapter I, A for an elaborate discussion of these approaches. KMP: Movement Generation, Activity, and Continuity in Philippine Society 10 theory and the political process model. An added dimension to this, however, is the blending of the political and cultural aspects in the explaining investigating organization as a movement process (Buechler, 2000: 204). Fifth, the considerable emphasis on mobilization is inspired by the resource mobilization theory and the creation of “mobilization space” by Apter and Saich (1994). Sixth, the importance given to assessment of outcomes as a critical movement process contributes to the argument that determining the success of radical organizations is not the same with organizations of different orientation. Both internal and external factors should be considered (Fitgerald and Rodgers, 2000: 586588). Lastly, the emphasis on the class and anti-colonial character of the KMP is informed by the argument that many contemporary social movements in the Third World are actually “people’s movements” and their struggles are a manifestation of the “democratic assertion of people’s rights”; and this is instructive in that “the pursuit of freedom is not over” (Mohanty, Mukherji, and Tornquist, 1998: 9-10). From the aforesaid theoretical extensions and applications emerge the two empirical contributions of my study. The first relates to political scaling. It critically considers the process of linking local, national, and international issues and struggles to one another, the impact of which impinges not only on movement processes (ideology, organization, mobilization, and assessment of outcomes) but on how movements take advantage of “open” opportunities and how they innovate on situations of “closed” opportunities. The second contribution relates to the structure of political opportunities. It could be seen that in the political history of oppositional movements in the Philippines, movement generation, activity, and continuity are directly dependent on the openness of the structure. Movements could very well become active in a KMP: Movement Generation, Activity, and Continuity in Philippine Society 38 assessment of outcomes. I chose these processes because they demonstrate significantly the empirical properties of social movements (Tarrow, 1998: 4-5) and underscore the common elements that are included in most conceptual efforts in defining them (McAdam, 1997: xviii). According to Tarrow (ibid.), these properties are “collective challenge, common purpose, social solidarity, and sustained interaction”. And from McAdam’s (ibid.) analysis, the common elements are “collective or joint action, change -oriented goals, some degree of organization, some extra-institutional collective action, or at least a mixture of extra-institutional and institutional activity”. a. Ideology and Consciousness-building Activities I begin with ideology and consciousness-building activities because these characterize the orientation of movements, which in turn defines how they interact with other social forces. The belief system of movements likewise determines (largely) the kind and degree of change they seek in society. Moreover, it explains the means of achieving movement goals. In sum, the ideology of a movement characterizes whether it is norm-oriented or value-oriented (Smelser, 1962), worldaffirming or world -rejecting (Wallis, 1984), or whether it is alterative, reformative, redemptive, or transformative (Aberle, 1966).17 Consciousness formation refers to the process by which insurgent consciousness is acquired by movement participants. The KMP relies heavily on the use of discourse to instill and heighten the consciousness of its constituent peasantry. Discourse is a “relatively bounded set of arguments organized around a specific diagnosis of a solution to some perceived social problem” (Ellingson, 1995). In the study, this component specifically referred to the construction of a peasant discourse 17 For a succinct discussion of these distinctions of social movements, refer to McAdam (1997: xviiixxii), “Introduction – Social Movements: Conceptual and Theoretical Issues”. KMP: Movement Generation, Activity, and Continuity in Philippine Society 39 that is embedded in larger a social context and belief system or ideology, raising of political consciousness, the conduct of training and education activities, the types and general contents of educational courses, and the forms, issues, and medium of advocacy (see Chapter IV. B.2.a.). b. Organization Organization, the second movement process in consideration, accounts for both political and cultural aspects. The political and cultural aspects of organization explain to a significant extent the internal factors for movement dynamics and continuity. On the one hand, the political aspects elaborate on “how movements organize themselves to contest for power in conflict with external targets” (Buechler, 2000: 204). To operationalize this, I examined the structure of the KMP, its advocacy and education work, agenda, programme of action, and political standpoint, how the movement organizes collective action, and its network of organizations. In other words, political organization probed on how the movement or its chapters organize themselves as a collective medium of peasant concerns, struggles, and discourse. It also deals with “communication network, solidary and material incentives, and enterprise tools”. 18 (see Chapter IV. B.; Chapter V. C. & H.2.b.; and Chapter A., D.1. & E.2.b). On the other hand, the cultural aspects focus on “how movements organize themselves to symbolically express their central goals and values and to affirm their collective identities” (ibid.). To this effect, I put into consideration the constitutions of the movement, its emblem, songs, slogans, and etcetera. By elaborating on these cultural dimensions, the study revealed the importance of an identity discourse where class is not the only reference. This is particularly true with songs where community 18 Refer to McAdam, 1982 and Smith, 1991. KMP: Movement Generation, Activity, and Continuity in Philippine Society 40 and moral and other values are meshed with class interests. Slogans, however, are more political and uniformly embark on class issues and frames (see Chapter V. C. & D. and Chapter VI. A., D.1., & E.2.b.). c. Mobilization If consciousness guides political action and organization serves as the medium for collective expression, mobilization refers to the actual process of generating and sustaining collective action. In Chapters V, VI, and VII, I investigated four aspects of mobilization – the process of creating a “mobilization space” (Apter and Saich, 1994), the repertoire of actions performed by the KMP and the range of militancy in tactics (e.g., from simple legal protests to defiant actions), the protest issue(s) and the targets of action, and the networks and linkages from which the movement draws mobilization support or what are referred to as “mobilization structures” (McAdam, 1997) ( see Chapter V. E. & F.; Chapter VI. C.1.; and Chapter VII. B.6). A very basic issue in engaging peasants and other segments of the population in collective action points to the process of creating discursive spaces. Apter and Saich (ibid. 389) posits that the way to transform the assumed nature and utility of a space, e.g., street, public building, or airport, is to “violate its obvious purposefulness”. Once violated, “the terrain or resulting mobilization space becomes well endowed with special meanings, produces outrage, challenges the state, and calls conventional purposes into question”. Attuned to this perspective, I elaborated on how among other spaces streets, government premises, a municipal government hall, and a conference site were transformed for mobilization purposes. In KMP’s fifteen years of existence, the movement has evolved various methods of protests and the study laid particular interest in the types of actions and KMP: Movement Generation, Activity, and Continuity in Philippine Society 41 how have they changed through time. The changes are then counter posed with the conditions of political space and opportunities available to the movement, e.g., the “cessation” of land occupation actions vis-à-vis reaction and sustainability. Another critical aspect points to the relationship between the depth and breadth of actions with the issue being addressed and the opponent on which the movement makes its demands. How protest issues and the type of targets structure mobilizations and vice versa? Do class- and intra-class issues have a bearing on the size , composition, and character of collective actions? Can a hierarchy between issue and target on the one hand and the scale of mobilization on the other hand be established? Another critical concern of the study in looking at mobilization processes is the arena through which actions are channeled. In launching oppositional politics, the movement makes use of the multiple arenas of struggle (see Chapter V. C., E. F. & H.2.c.; Chapter VI. C & E.2.c.; and Chapter VII. B.). This strategy is aimed at maximizing all possible channels to advance its oppositional activities and ventilate peasant concerns at different levels. In this respect, two arenas were considered. On one hand, KMP’s engagement in the formal-legal and parliamentary arena underpins the movement’s participation in government activities. For instance, while the movement incessantly denounces state capacity to address rural grievances it attends House and Senate Committee Hearings, meetings of the Department of Agrarian Reform Adjudication Boards, Court of Appeals hearings, among others. This according to the movement’s agenda is geared toward the achievement of piecemeal reforms. On the other hand, engagements in the extra-parliamentary arena constitute the backbone of the movement’s strategy. The movement uses the streets, public places, government premises, mountains, and other politically significant sites as KMP: Movement Generation, Activity, and Continuity in Philippine Society 42 “mobilization spaces” (Apter and Saich, 1994) to launch camp-outs, pickets, demonstrations, barricade, and other defiant actions. Extra-parliamentary means are employed to apply direct pressure to political opponents and express opposition and non-compliance. The study for this part focused on activities such as dialogues with government officials, press conferences, barricading, street protests and demonstrations, camp-ins, and campaigns. The analytical consideration of these activities rests in the investigation of the kind of benefits the movement has thus far achieved in utilizing the parliamentary and extra-parliamentary arenas. This is a very empirical basis for assessment and provokes theorizing on the character of Philippine society and state. Another point of reference, nonetheless, would be the unchanging perception of the movement about the unitary character of the state. Fourth, to what types of network and linkages does the movement rely upon in launching actions of varying degrees? In answering this question, I examined the role of formal and informal organizations, personal networks, and external linkages at the local, national, and international levels. By so doing, I demonstrated why and in what conditions small, personal networks and informal organizations or micromobilization structures matter more at the local level and why formal or big organizations or macro-mobilization structures tend to play a more decisive role at the national and international levels. There are, however, some qualifications to these findings. At the different stages of KMP’s existence, the movement relied interchangeably on formal and informal organizations at the different levels to facilitate mobilization and expansion. Nonetheless, formal and informal external linkages both play an important role in international mobilizations. d. Assessment of Outcomes KMP: Movement Generation, Activity, and Continuity in Philippine Society 43 Movements work around specific and general goals. Movement outcomes, however, are varied and according to McAdam (1997: 462), they “may be much broader and quite often unintended”. In this regard, he distinguishes between general categories of outcomes that might be reasonably ascribed to a given movement – redistributions of political power (e.g. civil rights/black power movement), changes in public policy (e.g., Amenta, Carruthers, and Zylan, 1992), changes in public opinion and behavior, impact on other movements (e.g., Meyer and Whittier, 1994; McAdam, 1988) and biographical consequences (e.g., Taylor and Raeburn, 1995; McAdam, 1989). The utility of the abovementioned categories should be qualified in investigating a radical social movement like the KMP. First, the movement does not aspire for political incorporation. While the movement seeks to expand the political space by asserting the rights of peasants, it does not confine its goals toward the “redistributions of political power” but rather aims for a radical restructuring of society. Second, it doe s not primarily measure success or failure in being able to influence public policy or other peasant movements. The study of KMP, particularly its measures of success and failure, hence, must be based in its own terms (see also Fitzgerald and Rodgers, 2000: 574, 586-588). The assessment of movement outcomes and consequences, nonetheless, should be theoretically informed and should likewise consider both “objective” and “subjective” measures of success. Fourth, the maneuvers of counter-movements or those forces oppositional to a given movement should be considered in understanding the effectiveness of KMP. “Organizations that openly promote antiestablishment values and practices become the subject of study, surveillance, and attack. Their failures may have be en partially or directly caused by successful attacks” (Fitzgerald and Rodgers, 2002: 586 cf KMP: Movement Generation, Activity, and Continuity in Philippine Society 44 Acker, 1995)19. Interestingly, violence and sabotage or rigid social control by the said forces can work the other way around and instead embolden movement unity and resolve.20 Fifth, resources represent another critical element in movement outcomes. For oppositional movements, however, they often possess meager resources compared to their political opponents. 21 But despite limited material resources UMALPAS-KA, for instance, was able to thwart real estate developers (see Chapter V). Hence, in what terms can the movement outcomes of KMP be investigated? Longevity is one basis where the 15 years of sustaining the organization becomes the most important. In terms of organization, how does the movement maintain and ensure unity and communication among its chapters? What are the costs of these measures? In terms of consciousness-building, how does the movement continually uphold the validity or acceptability of its politica l and ideological orientation? And in terms of mobilization, would it suffice to account for the length of political actions, the number of people mobilized, the extent of advocacy and clarity in exposing peasant issues and problems, the positive and negative aspects of the activity, the strengths and weaknesses and limitations and shortcomings in carrying out actions, and the comparison of the plan of action and the actual event? And in terms of longterm goals, how does the movement assess its accomplishments vis-à-vis the advancement of peasant interests? (see Chapter V. G. & h.2.d.; Chapter VI. D. & E.2.d.; and Chapter VII. D.1.) 19 Fitzgerald and Rodgers (ibid.) further cited Piven and Cloward (1977: 33) to demonstrate how outside forces could infuse factionalism and disillusionment within the movement. See several historical accounts in Philippine protest, Chapter III. 20 Gamson (1990), for instance, shows how violence appears to marginally benefit movements. In a similar vein, Smith (1991: 66) cites Gary Marx (1979: 117-23) how repressive social control can backfire against the elites. If exposed, it can shift the weight of moderate public opinion against them. 21 See Smith, 1991 and McAdam, 1982. KMP: Movement Generation, Activity, and Continuity in Philippine Society 45 Another important dimension in the assessment of KMP as a radically oppositional movement points to the problems that go with the movement’s politics. To supplement also the discussions about the processes and structures relative to KMP, I elaborate on the counter arguments perceived and could be raised against oppositional movements. Specifically, I put into consideration the controversial issues like class analysis, unitary state, extra-parliamentary and non-legal means, national democracy, and revolutionary politics. (see Chapter VII. C. & D.2.) 4. Interface of Movement Dynamics and Environment Movements emerge and thrive in socie ties. They are, however, not independent from the societal environment, an amalgamation of social, political, economic, and cultural structures and conditions at different levels. This is especially true if movement activities encompass local, national, and international collective actions. Movement processes and structures (e.g., emergence, organization, consciousness-building, mobilization, assessment), on the other hand, represent the influencing internal factors and reflect the agency of participants. By considering the different social realities and levels and arenas of engagement through which the movement carries out oppositional politics, I was able to demonstrate the changing and unchanging nature of collective action and the dynamics of movement processes and structure. C. Research Methodology The gathering of information pertinent to the study was carried out employing a three-part methodology – research design, data collection, and data processing. 1. Research Design The academic undertaking is an of-the-fact descriptive study of the politics of KMP at different levels. At the local level, the study primarily focused on the village KMP: Movement Generation, Activity, and Continuity in Philippine Society 46 of Calayo, Nasugbu, Batangas where the local chapter of KMP, that is UMALPASKA is located. It was designed to be the locus of KMP’s oppositional politics at the local scale. Other significant local agrarian issues and struggles, however, were highlighted throughout Chapters V, VI and VII by integrating them in the discussions. This emphasis aims to echo a societal comparison of other local struggles transpiring in Central and Northern Luzon, Visayas, or Mindanao. At the national level, the study concentrated on the activities of the central office of KMP in Quezon City especially its participation in national or nationwide political actions. It is also in this part where the other significant local struggles are highlighted to emphasize how the movement projects and elevates them to greater scales. As for the international scale, the researcher accounted for KMP’s inter national activities and made use of the proceedings of international conferences, assessments of international campaigns, and interviews with the staff to substantiate the organization’s engagements at this level. On the other hand, the study is considered exploratory, as it is the first major attempt to study KMP academically. The integration of various social movement theories to effect a contextualized approach explains the exploratory nature of the research. 2. Data Collection and Processing Primary and secondary data were acquired by visiting the different KMP offices, NGOs and their libraries, government agencies, peasant institutes and research centers, academic libraries, and through actual fieldwork. Data collection was done from July to December 2000. To gather information, the researcher spent weeks in Calayo, weeks in Pampanga (including travel), and weeks in the national office of KMP. KMP: Movement Generation, Activity, and Continuity in Philippine Society 47 Specifically, data collection utilized four major techniques - documents review, key informants interview, focused group discussion, and participatory observation. The questions used for interviews and group discussions were both written and verbal, and structured and open-ended. Moreover, the guidelines and questions under the said techniques were by no means fixed and were flexible based on the existing conditions at the time of research. The research also used the internet to regularly check KMP’s activities on its web site. Documents Review Three types of documents and literature were examined to gather secondary data – those that are pertinent to KMP and its affiliate organizations, those that are pertinent to other peasant-based civil society actors in the Philippines and other parts of the region/world, and those that relate to the state. These docum ents took the form of strategic and tactical plans of action, assessment papers, conference papers (proceedings), position papers, press releases, directives, political briefs, minutes of tactical and regular meetings, publication papers or journal, and other organizational documents. The analysis of these documents were used to validate and support the empirical information acquired and the examination of secondary data was based on the following pointers: type and objective of the document; issue being addressed; task and personnel involved (other resources); area and period covered, participation of (KMP), (affiliate organizations), (non-affiliate organizations), (government); policy towards (government), (non-affiliate organizations), (KMP), (affiliate organizations); problems and solutions; and lessons. Key Informants Interview KMP: Movement Generation, Activity, and Continuity in Philippine Society 48 The first type of empirical data was gathered through key interviews and these conversations were taped and/or noted. The citations of interviewees are marked with alphabetical and numeric signs to delineate the taped and noted discussions. The researcher employed the face-to-face method of interview (the formal type and the informal in the case of ambush interviews) to get the views and experiences of the leaders and members of the movement and no other means was used. The key legitimate informants were the leaders of KMP and affiliate organizations in the national, regional, provincial and local levels, full-time peasant activists and organizers, and members. There were also some intermittent electronic exchanges of information using the internet. Moreover, the researcher did not rely on one spokesperson or the “number one” leader of the movement in extracting information. It will be noticed in the empirical chapters that the positions of the interviewees range from being an ordinary member, full-time activists, president, vice-president, finance officer, public information officer, consultants, office staff, international solidarity head, supporters, and sympathizers. Focus Group Discussion (FGD) It was indeed impractical if the members of KMP and its affiliate organizations are to be interviewed one by one. Hence, the conduct of FGDs facilitated the gathering of key information and these discussions were planned, spontane ous, formal, and informal group meetings base on the existing conditions. Planned and formal discussions followed both specific and unstructured guidelines and questions as the agenda. Informal and spontaneous conversations were free flowing explications of views and opinions on political actions, issues and events but nevertheless followed some form of outline. As it was often impractical to tape these KMP: Movement Generation, Activity, and Continuity in Philippine Society 49 conversations, the researcher carefully noted the deliberations and marked them with alphabetical and numerical signs. Participatory Observation Aside from reviewing documents, interviews and conversations with the legitimate respondents, another source of empirical data came from the direct participation and involvement of the researcher in the conduct of political and organizational activities. These activities included meetings, assessment and planning, teach-ins and seminars, training, discussion groups, advocacy and propaganda, networking, and mobilization. In these activities, the researcher focuse d attention on the following points: nature of activity; objective of the activity; personnel involved; participation (KMP, POs, other actors); target clientele and its involvement; scope and period; achievements; problems and solutions; and lessons. The treatment of voluminous data followed a two-way system of processing. First, secondary and primary data were screened according to the constructed framework and the extent to which the gathered information relates to the research objective and problem. Second, the gathered data served as the axis by which adjustments on the research framework and problem could be made. At any rate, data gathered from fieldwork and analys es were utilized to answer the research questions and attain the objective of the study. D. Limitations of the Study The research is basically non-comparative. It involves the examination of one social movement and employs a one -country study. The research, however, investigates the political practices of KMP not only at the local levels but at the national and international as well. Moreover, the movement is considered to be a major peasant actor in Philippine politics. Also touted as the most militant peasant KMP: Movement Generation, Activity, and Continuity in Philippine Society 50 movement in Southeast Asia, the examination of its politics serves as a signif icant barometer for oppositional peasant movements in this part of the region and others as well. The privilege subject of the study is social movement. On the other hand, it is also useful to specify that the state was not completely neglected in the study. 22 Constant references to the state were made throughout the study particularly in the aspects of public policy, bureaucracy, regime, and property relations. 23 Hence, whenever the state is mentioned it is viewed as “a social relation, inasmuch as it is the codified power of the social formation. It is a social force that plays multidimensional and paradoxical roles vis-à-vis individuals and collectivities, dominant classes and general interests of the community; a legal, political and coercive framework within which society exists and a sense of belonging to a wider political community, and the maintenance of law and order and the provision of justice” (Chandhoke 1995, pp. 48-70). In turn, society is perceived as “the entirety of social practices, that is, an assemblage of social relations, with which a given community declares and reproduces its existence. These practices are relational, inasmuch they are hierarchically organized and maintained” (ibid.). Another issue of important concern is the definition of peasants. I subscribe to the view that debating on or establishing a definition of a peasant is ceaseless and a futile exercise (e.g., Migdal, 1974: 23; Marwell and Oliver, 1984). Nonetheless, I advance a crosscutting view of the peasantry in terms of their relationship with society and the land they till. Peasants are a class; they express a distinct way of life and culture; they are political inasmuch as they influence or are affected by the exercise of power in society; and they survive because of land together with its commodification. Empirically, I use peasants to refer to the rural population of 22 I present a more applied and elaborated theory or perspective of the Filipino state in Chapter II, Section A. 23 These aspects of state change were borrowed from Greenberg, 1993. KMP: Movement Generation, Activity, and Continuity in Philippine Society 51 tenants, sharecroppers, farmworkers, settlers, small landholders, fisherfolks, and indigenous peoples. The major case study of the research proved to be the case of UMALPAS-KA in Calayo, Nasugbu, Batangas. The researcher lived there for more than a month and was able to acquire data of varying scopes – village and cluster wide data, sectoral and multi-sectoral issues, and some provincial and regional information. For the national level, the research focused on the national office and witnessed the conduct of two national activities – the October Peasant Campaign and the PEOPLE’S CARAVAN 2000. These two cases were the primary references for KMP’s politics at the national scale. For the international scale, the researcher was able to observe and participate in the International Fact Finding Mission of the FIAN International that dealt with an assessment of agrarian reform implementation in the Philippines. Other reference cases were the proceedings of international conferences (e.g., the 1996 Anti-Imperialist World Peasant Summit held in the Philippines that was hosted by the KMP) and international component of the PEOPLE’S CARAVAN 2000 in which the researche r was able to participate in some activities. Most of the problems encountered in the fieldwork fell under the part of data collection. In a period of fifteen years, it was quite inevitable that some or many of the documents of KMP have been lost or misplaced. The situation was remedied by interviewing the responsible and involved personnel of the organization. As for the interviews with key informants, the inherent problem was their availability. As time consuming as they were, the conduct of face-to-face interviews was the main and only form used to collect information from legitimate respondents. Due to security reasons, many interviews and free flowing discussion with peasant and non-peasant activists in some local areas were not taped but nonetheless KMP: Movement Generation, Activity, and Continuity in Philippine Society 52 carefully noted. Mobility dictated the tempo of data gathering and the researcher had to resort to both small group and one -on-one discussions, and informal and spontaneous debates and argumentation. Covertly militarized, the researcher was not able to totally immerse in the communities of Central Luzon. Key leaders and members were just contacted and a meeting place was set for discussions and interviews. It would have been best if the researcher were free to go to the places especially the areas (of land reform and rehabilitation) where the provincial and regional chapters have implemented a revolutionary type of agrarian reform. On the other hand, Nasugbu is overtly militarized. The researcher was not able to some house-to-house work on the other half of the Calayo village and data gathering in the other parts of the hacienda was done through leap-frogging. There was no instance, for example, that the research slept alone in the office of UMALPAS-KA. The organization has made it a policy for all membe rs and visitors to be accompanied by at least two or three persons to oversee their safety especially during nighttime. There was also a time when the researcher was caught in the middle of a three -day military operation in the village (August 21-24, 2000) . It would have been best, nonetheless, if the opinions of the pro-land conversion camp were acquired. And as life-threatening the data gathering was planned conversions or interviews with the involved local government officials (e.g. Mayor Apacible of Nasugbu, Nasugbu Police Chief, Calayo Village Captain Mario Limeta, and the members of the Village Council) did not materialize. On the other hand, efforts to interview national government officials like DAR Secretary Horacio Morales and the responsible personnel of the Fil-Estate Properties Inc. and the Manila Southcoast KMP: Movement Generation, Activity, and Continuity in Philippine Society 53 Development Corporation were likewise in vain. Availability was the primary problem and secondly, the researcher was not able to find the right contact during the period of fieldwork. On the other hand, the researcher was able to personally talk to Hon. Hernani Braganza (then incoming DAR Secretary) in December 2001 and asked him about the Hacienda Looc controversy. In a poker-faced manner he replied, “It is indeed a controversial and very sensitive issue. It would be hard to get ‘official’ (coming from government) data on that….” [...]... to discredit movements challenging their authorities and status have time and again used this line of reasoning 2 Resource Mobilization Theory After dominating the field of social movement studies, the breakdown theory was challenged by a new strand of theorizing in the West in the late 19 60s and early KMP: Movement Generation, Activity, and Continuity in Philippine Society 18 19 70s In the U.S., social... triggered the problematizat ion of mobilization 9 Useem refers to the likes of Jenkins and Perrow (19 77), Oberschall (19 78b: 298), McCarthy and Zald (19 77: 12 14 -15 ), and Snyder and Tilly (19 72) KMP: Movement Generation, Activity, and Continuity in Philippine Society 20 ubiquitous, and therefore, unproblematic (Smith 19 91) However, resource mobilization theorists or innovators have added new variables in their... Movement Theories and the Study of KMP KMP: Movement Generation, Activity, and Continuity in Philippine Society 29 The abovementioned theories and approaches to the study of social movements are very useful in analyzing and comprehending collective action and movement organizations While the breakdown theory posits the importance or the decisive power of societal breakdown and grievances, the resource... I discusses the theoretical foundations It begins with an analysis of social movement theories – the breakdown perspective or the collective behavior theory, resource mobilization theory, political process model, and the new social movement approach – and underpins the terms of their application in the study of KMP: Movement Generation, Activity, and Continuity in Philippine Society 12 KMP s politics... purposes of autonomizing the movement from the state but to continually inculcate the state question into the minds of individual and organization members b Context KMP: Movement Generation, Activity, and Continuity in Philippine Society 32 At least four aspects related to the context of the abovementioned theories could be specified to appraise their realistic application to the study of KMP The first... of meanings (Buechler 2000: 204 cf Eyerman and Jamison, 19 91; Morris and Mueller, 19 92; Larana et al., 19 94; and Johnston and Klandermas, 19 95), on cultural aspects rather than on political aspects, on micro13 For a brief account of the origins of NSMs, see the article of Buechler (19 95) entitled “New SocialMovement Theories” KMP: Movement Generation, Activity, and Continuity in Philippine Society. .. argument of synthesizing the four major social movement theories (19 98: 18 ) I, however, simply suggest for a space-sensitive application of the theories KMP: Movement Generation, Activity, and Continuity in Philippine Society 34 According to this approach, the oppositional politics or “contentious politics” (Tarrow, 19 98) of the movement can be best examined at the different levels of engagement and social... grievances automatically and KMP: Movement Generation, Activity, and Continuity in Philippine Society 24 directly cause movements to develop Second, it deals with grievances rather than treat them as insignificant and considers the role of broader political processes and structures in the emergence and continuity of movements Noonan (19 95), however, raises the applicability issue of the political opportunity... and the like” (Marwell and Oliver, 19 84: 2) KMP: Movement Generation, Activity, and Continuity in Philippine Society 19 fulfillment) Organizations, old or new, are therefore crucial to generate and realize movement participation (McAdam, 19 82) In sum, Cohen and Arato (19 92: 498) enumerates the common assumptions of the variants of the RMT – Olson for the strictly individualist, utilitarian logic of. .. associations and sophisticated forms of communication KMP: Movement Generation, Activity, and Continuity in Philippine Society 28 The most problematic assumption, perhaps, of the NSM theorists is their twin claim of “newness” and postmodern view of the old Edelman (19 99: 19 ) states that it suffers from “historical amnesia” as if there has been a big historical gap in events leading to the emergence of “new” movements . theorizing in the West in the late 19 60s and early KMP: Movement Generation, Activity, and Continuity in Philippine Society 18 19 70s. In the U.S., social scientists focused on the process of. action to the KMP: Movement Generation, Activity, and Continuity in Philippine Society 17 formation of publics and social movements. Sixth, the emergence and growth of movements within this. Movement Generation, Activity, and Continuity in Philippine Society 7 to the movement. The examination of these three aspects bridges the twin argument of a grounded and qualified study of a