This study examines the everyday politics of a rice farming village in central Luzon. Contending that the faction and patron-client relationships emphasized by conventional studies are but one part of Philippine political life, Kerkvliet offers a portrait of political relationships among villagers. The world he portrays is complex and multifaceted: in a period of flux, relations of status and class shift as traditional roles give way to new social identities. The author demonstrates how disputes over land or controversies around wages lie at the heart of political life regardless of whether they manifest themselves in the usual political arenas. Kerkvliet shows how everyday politics illuminates contending beliefs about what is just and who has rights to particular resources. Furthermore, relationships between people in different class and status positions are far less harmonious than they might appear on the surface. Embedded in this contentious interaction are divergent ideas about how resources should be distributed - the privileged emphasize values supported by capitalism, while the poor press rights to the satisfaction of basic needs and to human dignity.
"Everyday Politics in the Philippines" hopes to revise notions of political life in the developing world.