A case study of the relationship between the Iglesia Filipina Independiente and Lumad indigenous communities in the Philippines: the transformational potential of ecologies of knowledge.

Bridger, Emma (2024). A case study of the relationship between the Iglesia Filipina Independiente and Lumad indigenous communities in the Philippines: the transformational potential of ecologies of knowledge. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

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Abstract

In this thesis, I position ecologies of knowledge as a tool for dismantling the limits the colonial matrix of power places on western imaginations. I adopt a case study approach through which I interact with the lived experience of Lumad Indigenous communities and the Iglesia Filipina Independiente in the Philippines and reflect upon my personal transformation throughout the research process.
I begin the thesis by introducing Mignolo’s concept of a colonial matrix of power that marginalises all ‘other’ knowledges to the other side of an abyssal line. With a particular focus on our deepening climate and ecological disaster, I argue for an urgent challenge to this matrix and advocate for the dismantlement of boxhead, a term coined by Andreotti to illustrate the limits of western imaginations.
I trace the development of a colonial matrix of power in the Philippines, outlining the engagement between Lumad Indigenous persons, Spanish colonial powers and American imperialists. Following this, I introduce the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI), a Filipino nationalist Church and suggest that the formation of the church was itself an act of colonial resistance.
Adopting a scholar activist methodology and drawing from Indigenous and feminist methodologies I then leap across time to detail how corporations and successive Filipino governments, particularly that of President Marcos Duterte, have used the racist and anthropocentric hierarchies created during colonial rule to oppress indigenous people and those who seek to defend them in the present.
I use data gathered through ethnographic engagement and semi-structured interviews to argue for an expansion in what is commonly defined as the Lumad struggle, contending that failing to do so ignores the breadth of opposition to the colonial matrix of power and, in particular, neo-liberal capitalist oppression. I build upon this argument for broader understandings of struggle when examining the theology of the IFI, and acknowledge the importance of individual identity when considering how to manifest a commitment to struggle in ones own life.
Finally, I examine how engagement with Lumad communities who are part of the struggle has influenced the theology and practice of IFI leadership. I demonstrate that, through an ecology of knowledge, leadership of the IFI have defamiliarised themselves with the universalist thinking and hegemonic understandings of progress and development that support the colonial matrix of power. I conclude that standing in solidarity with the ‘other’ in their struggle can be a transformational act that leads to a re-thinking and re-valuing that is necessary for human and planetary flourishing.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ph.D.

Supervisor(s):