A call for a ‘nationalist sociology’ was proposed at the 4th Corazon B. Lamug Memorial Lecture at the University of the Philippines-Los Baños (UPLB).

Dr. Dennis S. Erasga, a Full Professor of Sociology at the De La Salle University-Taft was this year’s speaker. Dr. Erasga made the case for Pilipinong Sosyolohiya by arguing that it is more than borrowing Western sociological concepts and indigenizing them to make them our own. A Sociology by Pilipinos challenges this practice by arguing about their suitability in light of the colonial experiences of the Filipinos. It does not appreciate the Filipino culture from a sociological standpoint, rather, it tries to appreciate sociology using the lens of the Filipino culture.

Dr. Erasga is an alumnus of the BA and MA Sociology programs of UPLB.

The proposal was first presented during the PSS Annual Scientific Conference last October 2016 at the Ateneo de Davao University. Dr. Erasga will also present the paper at the International Sociological Association’s 4th Conference of National Associations to be held in Almaty, Kazakhstan in May 2017.

The Memorial Lecture is held annually to honor Dr. Corazon B. Lamug. She was the Chairperson of the Department of Social Sciences at the University of the Philippines-Los Banos, the former Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and the President of the Philippine Sociological Society. Dr. Lamug passed away in 2008. The lecture series was first held in 2013 and has featured key sociologists in the country including Dr. Daylinda Cabanilla Professor of Anthropology at the Department of Social Forestry and Forest Governance, UPLB, and advisee of Dr. Lamug; Dr. Lynlei Pintor, from the Department of Social Forestry and Forest Governance, UPLB; and Ms. Jean Enriquez, Executive Director at the Coalition against Trafficking in Women (CATW)-Asia Pacific.

This event is organized by the Department of Social Sciences, through the Sociology-Anthropology-Psychology Division of UPLB.