Women, power, and kinship politics : female power in post-war Philippines

Politics in the Philippines is not male-dominated, but gendered. This book examines how women hold power unofficially through their kinship ties with male politicians. Examining the perspectives of local concepts of power, the author explores gender and power in post-war Philippines and characterizes kinship politics embedded in the predominate political culture. Women's power is a site where the conflict between the two discourses of kinship politics and modern nationalist values is daily contested. Unofficial women's power is resourced through kinship politics, but because it is exercised behind the scenes it makes women vulnerable to criticisms that they are manipulative or scheming, wielding power that is illegal, undemocratic, anti-nationalist and unaccountable. But, at the other end of the equation, women's crusades against graft and corruption is doubly legitimized through both the modern discursive prioritizing of the nation-state and through women's traditional gendered roles as moral guardians. This book will be of interest to scholars and students in Philippine studies, Southeast Asian history, gender studies, women and power in Asia, and feminist studies. Frontmatter Illustrations (page ix) Acknowledgments (page xi) 1. Introduction: Towards Engendering Philippine Post-War History and Politics (page 1) 2. Power Outside the Symbols of Power (page 29) 3. Women Politicians: Equal but Different? (page 73) 4. Women in Radical Politics (page 121) 5. Beauty Queen, Moral Guardian, Inang Bayan, and Militant Nun: Images of Female Power (page 161) 6. Conclusion: Empowering Women (page 189) Bibliography (page 195) Index (page 211) From the standpoint that politics in the Philippines is not male-dominated, but gendered, this book examines how women hold power unofficially through their kinship ties with male politicians. It looks at the perspectives of local concepts of power.