#Kabataan Ngayon: A workshop on Filipino youth and social change

Co-organized by the Development Studies Program (Ateneo de Manila University), Research Center on Culture, Education and Social Issues (University of Santo Tomas),  and the Philippine Sociological Society

May 19-21, 2016
Thomas Aquinas Research Complex, University of Santo Tomas

Download the poster here.

One area often neglected in studies that deal with social change in the Philippines is the state of its young people.  This is unfortunate insofar as the social scientific literature is concerned.  Much of the research focuses on the emergence of the middle class, the lingering problems of the poor, and the political and economic conditions that will maintain the viability of growth in the years to come.  If young people were considered, they are often compartmentalized as potential contributors to economic development, if not ideological instruments for political reform.

It is to address these biases that we are organizing this workshop on kabataang Pinoy, the Filipino youth today.  We argue that intergenerational change is inherently tied to social change.  Shifts in the values, attitudes, and behavior of a population are often discernible along generational lines.  But the neglect is also problematic in light of the population’s youth base.  More than half of the Philippine population is below 24 years old.  What this statistic possibly means is that young people are not simply passive bystanders of changes in Philippine society.  They may in fact be involved in initiating change in their various relationships, schools, and communities.

This workshop aims to systematically interrogate the relationship between young people today and the changes that are taking place around them.  We are not simply interested in a demographic or general profile of young Filipinos.  We are interested in how they interface with developments in society.  Some scholars, for example, will give attention to their discontents while others to their aspirations.  These discontents and aspirations are manifested in their attitudes, values, and other activities.  Some of them are even at the forefront of movements and political mobilization.

As an exercise in the social sciences, this workshop intends to engage salient themes in youth studies such as risk, cultural resistance, alienation, individualization, activism, apathy, globalization, and the use of information and communications technology.  The specific cases we are interested in are diverse and some of these concern labor, religion, education, urban space, media, political participation, and sexuality.

The workshop is an invitation to researchers, practitioners, and youth workers who are involved one way or another in scholarly activities.  We aim to gather such individuals to think about the Filipino youth in novel ways that include methodology, theory, and groundbreaking empirical findings.  Papers can draw from large-scale studies that present wider social trends or specific cases that are more qualitative or ethnographic in character.

The overall goal of the workshop is to publish an edited volume that will serve as landmark material to influence the trajectory of youth studies in the Philippines.  The workshop is fully funded.  For participants coming from outside Metro Manila, support for travel and accommodation may also be offered by the organizers on a competitive basis.

Please submit your abstract (500 words) and brief biography (150 words) to philippinesociology@gmail.com.  Deadline: February 29, 2016.  Results will be announced in mid-March 2016.

Convenors:

Dr Jayeel Serrano Cornelio
Director, Development Studies Program
Ateneo de Manila University

Dr Clarence M. Batan
Director, Research Center on Culture, Education and Social Issues (RCCESI)
University of Santo Tomas