Content area
Full Text
CIVIL SOCIETY IN THE PHILIPPINES: Theoretical, Methodological and Policy Debates. Rethinking Southeast Asia, 11. By Gerard Clarke. London;New York:Routledge, 2012. xxiv, 257pp., (Maps, tables.) US$135.00, cloth, ISBN978-0-415-57272-9.
Should a Philippine edition of tiiis book ever get published, it will surely be one extensively consulted by activists, policy makers, politicians, and ordinary readers-and with any hope, it may contribute to meaningful change. As of this writing, one news story currently grabbing the headlines of national dailies involves a couple who allegedly skimmed millions from politicians and die Philippines Armed Forces by funneling development funds to bogus non-government organizations (NGOs) and people's organizations (POs). The husband and wife team used die monies to fund a lavish lifestyle of world travel, high-end real estate, and blowout parties in Hollywood. This evolving story validates one of Gerard Clarke's key arguments: tiiat civil society organizations (CSOs), of which NGOs and POs are die most representative, remain no longer the exclusive tool of those defending the interests of die underclasses. On the contrary, CSOs also have become a means through which the powerful corrupt, promote and protect tiiemselves.
Clarke begins his narrative witii a thorough overview of civil society theories from Plato to John Keane, die...