Passive revolution: A church‐military partnership in the Philippines

Abstract

In the Philippines, a Catholic social movement for local development and broad structural transformation, referred to as Basic Ecclesial Communities, offers a counter-narrative to state development. Predicated on the power of networked local groups, the Diocese of San Carlos has taken the original concept and rescaled it, operating a variety of social-action programmes at the diocese level. The focus of this paper is a unique partnership between the diocese and the Armed Forces of the Philippines, which has produced a number of measurable positive changes in under-serviced areas. We remain uncertain, however, about the extent to which the church is cooperating with, or being co-opted by, the military as it enters into partnership, and many members of the clergy share our scepticism. In this paper we draw upon Gramsci's concept of passive revolution (1971) as a means to conceptualize both the efforts of the church to reform society from within, and the reaffirmation of the hegemonic discourse that seems inevitable.

Postdevelopment and Nonsecularism in an Officially Secular State: Faith-Based Social Action in the Philippines

“…No doubt, on a national level, there is a rigid hierarchy among the Catholic faithful at stake, with a minority elite that benefits economically and politically from its subjugation of the majority. Likewise, we must consider the extent to which the church is simply empowering itself as junior partner within the greater Philippine economy (Moxham & Grant, ). In both circumstances, development can be interpreted as the entrenchment of clerical power within communities searching for there own self‐empowerment.…”

“…In many cases, faith‐based organisations are challenging these problems, and a number of scholars are looking at the prevalence and/or resurgence of religion in everyday life, detailing the myriad ways in which faith‐based groups are participating in civic affairs and revitalising religious identity (Berger, ; Clark, ; Clarke, ; de Vries, ; Holden & Jacobson, ; Jamoul & Wills, ; Moxham & Grant, ): ‘Rather than receding into the private realm as predicted under secularisation theory, the meanings and expressions of lived religion—as identity, belief, practice, and cultural process—continue to be decisively public issues’ (Olson et al ., : 1422). In the end, it appears that even in geographically diverse places, from Global South to Global North and rural to urban, and with politically diverse outcomes, from ‘jungle law’ to ‘aggressive reregulation’ (Peck & Tickell, : 385–9), the economic world system is making fertile ground for the kind of civic action and belonging embodied in wider communities of faith.…”

“…BECs are comprised of local families that originally came together to study liturgy and understand the relevance of the Bible for daily life. Today, many dioceses and BECs work towards participatory grassroots development, challenging existing patterns of capital accumulation and offering social development alternatives grounded in an ecclesiastical belief in living God's word (Gaspar, ; Holden & Jacobson, ; Moxham & Grant, ; Nadeau, ; Picardal, ). Working towards social justice and against oppression—in a vein similar to Latin American Liberation Theology, a sibling discourse—inspiration comes from (i) an awakening of members to the realities of poverty and oppression, (ii) proclaiming condemnation for the policies of the oppressors and (iii) mobilising the poor in a moral way that will affect positive change (Delotavo, ).…”

“…Today, BECs thrive in the Philippines, active in approximately 60 of 79 dioceses (Picardal, ). Although the vast majority remain liturgical groups that have not ventured into social action, those that have cooperate to strengthen sociocultural bonds and defend place in poor communities, through the participation of local people in their own meaningful development (Holden & Jacobson, ; Moxham & Grant, ; Nadeau, ). Such participation includes organic farming, microcredit lending, marketing cooperatives, herbal medicine projects and local handicraft development, building ‘a new society based upon ecologically sustainable modes of production in connection with new forms of political and social relationships’ (Nadeau, : 324).…”