Indigenous Communities (En)Countering the Faces of Oppression: Elucidating Some Political and Ecological Struggles

Abstract

I will argue that the Lumads, Kankana-eys, Ibaloys, and Aetas are indigenous communities who need social group representation in the wider practice of democratization toward the sustainability of their environment and the development of their lifeways. Human rights violations, however, are not merely perpetuated by direct acts against Indigenous peoples, as these are also reinforced by the norms, social structures, stereotypes, behaviors, and assumptions that fuel the aggressive existence of consumer society and its adoration of rationalistic and manipulative subjectivity. I will explain the significance of Iris Marion Young’s theory of the five faces of oppression – exploitation, marginalization, powerlessness, cultural imperialism, and violence – to demand a more meticulous, philosophical, and democratic understanding of the conditions and factors that perpetuate structural oppression.
Central to this project is the rethinking of the dominant system’s understanding of “development,” “growth,” and “prosperity,” which have become, in reality, predominantly profit-driven, highly individualistic, and destructively manipulative, as opposed to the indigenous cultures to be discussed. Without examining these underlying sources and conditions of oppressive culture, the Philippine society remains hostage to “practical consciousness” and “double consciousness,” in which the citizens do not think that they can learn valuable lessons from the indigenous communities’ understanding and praxis of consumption and production, much less support the furtherance of “politicized cultural discussions.” It is only in this way that we can critically evaluate, despite the seeming overlap of subliminal and palpably conscious forms of oppression that perpetuate the climate crisis, environmental destruction, and human rights violations.