Albert E. Alejo, S.J.
Generating Energies In Mount Apo: Cultural Politics In A Contested Environment
Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press. ISBN 971-550-354-3
This is an exceptional work of scientific investigation of a people's struggle to survive and benefit from processes of development.
Alejo's account is poetic and passionate, but he avoids the simplistic romanticism that often colors studies of indigenous peoples. He puts under the microscope not only actions of government officials, but also those of international and local NGOs who proclaim themselves advocates of local people's interests.
Through a meticulous ethnographic study Alejo demonstrates that culture is constantly constructed and reinvented by people as they confront processes of change. At the same time, he shows how the scholar transforms the subject of his study and offers rich lessons and deep methodological insights to anyone hoping to conduct research in a local community.
This is a brilliant work, written in an accessible fashion, that should be equally of interest to anthropologists, other social scientists studying development, and nonacademic policy makers and social activists.
James Putzel PhD, London School of Economics and Political Science |
