THE HOLLOW STATE: HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE STATE IMAGINARY by HELEN DELFELD A Dissertation submitted to the Graduate School-New Brunswick Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Program in Political Science written under the direction of Professor D. Michael Shafer and approved by ________________________ ________________________ ________________________ ________________________ New Brunswick, New Jersey [October, 2008] © 2008 Copyright Helen Delfeld All rights reserved Abstract of the Dissertation The Hollow State: Human Rights and the State Imaginary by Helen J. Delfeld Chair: D. Michael Shafer My work suggests that looking at the state as a discourse rather than a positivistic (real, material) entity will help us understand how people might better access human rights; in the process of doing so, we break the idea of human rights away from a purely legalistic enterprise. The discourse that makes up each state differs, and that difference matters in the discourse of human rights. I label the Philippines a new kind of discursive entity, a “hollow state”. A hollow state fulfills many of the discursive expectations of stateness, but is supported more by external constituencies than internal ones – violating the imaginary that all states share some characteristics with nation-states. This study consists of a two-pronged investigation of the difference in governance discourse between the local level and the state level on the island province of Palawan in the Philippines. I interviewed 207 people involved in rights-oriented programs as participants or providers, in Palawan, in the Philippines. Content analysis was also done on government documents in Manila. There are three empirical findings. First, at the grassroots, people in the study area derive more support from NGOs, INGOs and local peoples’ organizations than from local or state government. Second, the state itself is more composed of discourse with external partners than with domestic ones – a “hollow state”. Third, external actors (such as other states and NGOs) working to increase access to rights often treat the state as real and effective. The result of this third finding is that some actions taken by these external actors may strengthen the state, but may not improve people’s access to rights. I conclude that separating the discourse of rights from the discourse of the state may help unhinge these effects from each other. This is easier said than done, as the discourses are co- constituted. Acknowledgements Good lord, where do I start. As a Foucauldian, I am well-steeped in the idea that authorship is illusory – one simply records the ideas available to one at the time. That makes me even more grateful for all the smart, engaged people who I’ve been lucky enough to know, both before and during this writing. Although that makes the standard “mistakes being my own” line a bit more nuanced, as well… Maggie (Delfeld) Wentzell, you’ve got to be first. You’ve known me longest, and believed in me against all evidence for much of that time. At times, that’s been what convinced me to believe in myself, since I have to admit that you’re pretty bright. Do I get to say you’re the wind beneath my wings? Thought so. In no particular order – only the order in which you occur to me: Audrey Devine-Eller, you’re a trouper. All those zillions of conversations, about literally everything under the sun… Having someone there to do a reality check is so invaluable, especially as far-out as my own personal reality gets, sometimes. Nichole Shippen. What would I have done without my working-class sister-in- arms? I can’t say what it has meant to go through this whole thing with you – it would have been a poorer experience. Besides, you gave me $5 to appear here. Kate Bedford, you’re one of the first smart, original person who thought my ideas were smart and original too. I will always be grateful for your support – me on the road in to graduate school, you on the road out. I learned a lot about being a mentor from you. My very good friends, all of you who made me constantly grateful that I chose this graduate program with these people. Not a lick of competition, just constant support and encouragement. A number of you people were also brave enough to read early work, and you deserve a special acknowledgement. A new idea emerging is often marked by muddiness, and the ideas presented here emerged from a black-tar pool. It took extreme optimism to see that there was anything at all valuable in the dross I was first producing. Benjamin Peters, Aaron Keck, Alexandra Filindra, Carolyn Craig, Sara Angevine, Joseph Dwyer, Giselle Datz – you are very special to me. Of course there are my intellectual mentors. Michael Shafer, whose standards are inflexible but whose words are always supportive, I couldn’t have chosen a better advisor, although I often wished for you a better student. Jan Kubik, I learned so much about being a political scientist from someone who really isn’t one. You freed me up from a lot of limitations I had imposed on my own thinking – not that you’re to blame for the result. Dan Tichenor, your attention to detail and close reading of work, even far outside your field, gave me a powerful model of academic mentoring and integrity. All the faculty at Rutgers deserve acknowledgement – without you I wouldn’t be tiptoeing out as a newly fledged professor. My parents also belong here – without their example, I wouldn’t have gotten much of anywhere. Scott, you’ve got to be last. Without you, this quite literally would not have been done. The years and years of conversation, encouragement, love, support, and editing channeled and focused and molded this project, and my life. Not to mention the fighting. Anybody who cares about ideas enough to fight about them like we have is either psychotic or deeply committed. It is up to others to decide which it is. Do I get to say you’re the wind beneath my wings? Thought so. I am really looking forward to regretting just about everything I am putting forward here. If I don’t end up doing so, I will be vastly disappointed. I only hope that I discover how wrong I am before the rest of the world does. I hope that a substantial part of you, this audience, helps me come to this regret. Table of Contents Abstract ii Acknowledgements iv List of Figures ix List of Definitions, Abbreviations and Acronyms x Introduction The Hollow State: Human Rights and the State Imaginary 1 Why Discourse Matters 4 State Imaginaries Examined 5 When Weakness Gets Complicated – Theory of the Hollow State 8 Reinforcing Contradictions 11 The Intersection of Human Rights with the Hollow State 17 Hollow State Theory Applied 22 Research Design 28 Chapter Two Conceptual Background 34 Approaches to Studying the State 39 Successful State = State + Nation 44 The State and Human Rights 46 Problems with Unifying Human Rights and the State 52 The Hollow State 61 Chapter Three State-Level Governance Discourse in the Philippines 73 How to Make a Hollow State 79 Who constitutes the state discourse? Why do they continue to dominate? 81 Limited Pool of Traditional Politicians (Trapos) 82 Trapos in Palawan 86 Corruption 87 Political Parties 93 Ineffective or Sabotaged Anti-Corruption and Reform 95 Trapos 95 Term Limits 96 Party Reform 97 Proportional Representation 99 Charter Change (Cha-cha) 101 Devolution 103 R.A. 7160: The Local Government Code of 1991 105 Resource-Seeking: Ahon Bayan 106 External Circuits of Discourse 109 Nationalism 109 Language Politics 114 Overseas Contract Workers/Overseas Filipino Workers 116 Debt Servicing 120 Conclusion 123 Chapter Four Local Discourse: NGOs, POs, and LGUs vs. States 125 Local Governance 126 Factors: Distance 127 -Indigenous Status 128 -Migratory Status 129 -Language Status 130 -Religious Status 131 -Sex/Gender 132 Methodology 133 Research Results 137 Conclusion 151 Chapter Five Case Study: The Violence Against Women and Their Children Act 152 Feminists and the State 153 Case Study: VAWC 156 About the Act 160 Research Design 162 Theoretical Consequences 172 Chapter Six Case Study: Palawan and Non-State Environmental Governance 174 NGOs and the New Constitution 178 Case Study: Haribon 184 Rights Generation: Haribon Palawan 190 Conclusion 196 Chapter Seven Conclusion: Hollow States and Human Rights 200 Appendix A: Oral Consent Form 210 Appendix B: Tagalog Interview Protocol 214 Appendix C: Interview Protocol Answer Sheet Sample 219 Works Cited 222 Curriculum Vitae 235 List of Figures 1.1 Possible State Contexts 9 1.2 Boomerang Effect Hypothesis 23 1.3 Hollow State Dynamics 24 1.4 Attenuation of Local Relationships 25 1.5 Potential Separation between States and Rights 27 4.1 Ages of Respondents 138 4.2 Monthly Income 138 4.3 Income by Gender 138 4.4 Rankings of Politicians by Importance 140 4.5 Perceived Importance of NGOs/POs 141 4.6 Perceived Helpfulness of NGOs/POs vs. Barangays 142 4.7 Perceptions of Who “Should” Assure Rights 144 4.8 Perceptions of Who Does Assure Rights 145 4.9 NGOs Percieved as Helping Assure Rights 147 5.1a Socioeconomic Status and Effective Women’s Leadership 163 5.1b Rural Barangays 164 5.2 Posited Reason for Effective Women’s Leadership 165 List of Definitions, Abbreviations, and Acronyms ADC: Ancestral Domain Claim; a legal status of some sovereignty from state control, for IPs who establish a particular history of occupation and use before state Ahon Bayan: Organization started to connect internal NGOs and needs-provision organizations with external resources AusAID: Australian Agency for International Development Barangay: (also balangay) the oldest and smallest unit of governance in the Philippines, usually ranging between a few hundred and a few thousand residents.