Istambay: a Sociological Analysis of Youth Inactivity in the Philippines
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ISTAMBAY: A SOCIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF YOUTH INACTIVITY IN THE PHILIPPINES By Clarence M. Batan Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Dalhousie University Halifax, Nova Scotia February 2010 © Copyright by Clarence M. Batan, 2010 DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY AND SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY The undersigned hereby certify that they have read and recommend to the Faculty of Graduate Studies for acceptance a thesis entitled ―ISTAMBAY: A SOCIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF YOUTH INACTIVITY IN THE PHILIPPINES‖ by Clarence M. Batan in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Dated: February 26, 2010 External Examiner _____________________________________ Research Supervisor: _____________________________________ Examining Committee: _____________________________________ _____________________________________ Departmental Representative: ii DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY DATE: February 26, 2010 AUTHOR: Clarence M. Batan TITLE: ISTAMBAY: A SOCIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF YOUTH INACTIVITY IN THE PHILIPPINES DEPARTMENT OR SCHOOL: Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology DEGREE: PhD CONVOCATION: May YEAR: 2010 Permission is herewith granted to Dalhousie University to circulate and to have copied for non-commercial purposes, at its discretion, the above title upon the request of individuals or institutions. Signature of Author The author reserves other publication rights, and neither the thesis nor extensive extracts from it may be printed or otherwise reproduced without the author‘s written permission. The author attests that permission has been obtained for the use of any copyrighted material appearing in the thesis (other than the brief excerpts requiring only proper acknowledgement in scholarly writing), and that all such use is clearly acknowledged. iii Dedication Ito ay buong puso kong inihahandog sa lahat ng mga Pilipinong istambay – kung saan ang makahulugang pagtambay ay nagbigay inspirasyon sa pagsulat ng disertasyong ito. This is dearly dedicated to all Filipino istambay – whose meaningful experience of inactivity inspired the writing of this dissertation. iv Table of Contents List of Tables ................................................................................................................... xiv List of Figures ................................................................................................................. xvii Abstract .......................................................................................................................... xviii Glossary of Selected Filipino Terms Used ...................................................................... xix Acknowledgments..............................................................................................................xx Chapter I .............................................................................................................................1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................1 A. The Research Problem ................................................................................................1 B. Research Contexts ........................................................................................................4 1. Youth Inactivity as a Social Issue ....................................................................... 4 2. Study Setting: The Philippines............................................................................ 5 a. Background on the Philippines ........................................................................5 b. Political History ...............................................................................................7 c. The Philippine Education and Employment Situation .....................................9 c.1 System of Education and Current State .................................................... 9 c.2 Employment Situation ............................................................................. 11 C. Potential Use of Research Findings ........................................................................13 D. Remaining Chapters ..................................................................................................14 v Chapter II .........................................................................................................................15 A Review of Theories, Context and Evidence ........................................15 A. The Filipino Youth Istambay in the Realm of Social Theories ....................................15 1. Theoretical Considerations ............................................................................... 17 2. Generation and Youth: From the Classics to Contemporary Theories ............. 17 3. Generational Perspective .................................................................................. 19 a. Intergenerational Relations ............................................................................19 b. Age Inequality and Social Reproduction .......................................................23 4. Youth as a Social Category ............................................................................... 25 a. Notion of ―Youth‖ ..........................................................................................26 b. Coming-of-Age Processes .............................................................................29 5. Conceptual Implications to the Understanding of the Filipino Istambay ......... 30 a. On Generation ................................................................................................30 b. On Youth ........................................................................................................32 c. Theories and the Filipino Istambay ................................................................33 6. Considering Mills and Bourdieu ....................................................................... 36 a. Fields ..............................................................................................................37 b. Forms of Capital ............................................................................................38 c. Habitus ...........................................................................................................40 d. A Theory of Transitional Crises ....................................................................41 vi B. Literature Review.......................................................................................................42 1. Contextual Issues of Concern ........................................................................... 43 2. Studies Related to Youth Inactivity .................................................................. 46 a. Western Youth Ethnographies .......................................................................46 b. Cross-cultural Research .................................................................................48 c. Philippine-based Studies ................................................................................50 Chapter III ........................................................................................................................53 Studying the Filipino Istambay: A Mixed Methods Research P r o c e s s ..........................................................................................................................53 A. Why Mixed Methods Approach ...............................................................................53 B. Brief History of the Istambay Project .....................................................................55 C. Multiple Data Sources ...............................................................................................56 1. Secondary Data ................................................................................................ 56 a. Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Study (YAFS) 2002 .............................56 a.1 YAFS 2002‘s Research Design ............................................................... 57 a.2 Self-reported Main Activity: Key Variable of Interest ........................... 58 a.3 Operationalization of Selected Variables ................................................ 59 a.4 UP Population Institute (UPPI) and YAFS 2002 Data .......................... 62 b. Songs and Internet Postings ...........................................................................62 2. Primary Data .................................................................................................... 63 a. Case Studies ...................................................................................................63 vii a.1 Field Sites ................................................................................................ 63 a.2 Field Research Procedures ...................................................................... 65 a.3 Funding Support ...................................................................................... 65 a.4 Research Assistants ................................................................................. 66 a.5 Data-gathering Procedures ...................................................................... 66 a.6 National Situation During the Conduct of Research ............................... 69 b. Istambay Conceptual Survey .........................................................................69 D. Mixed Methods Research Decisions: Analysis, Integration and