In the struggle to advance land reform in the Philippines, women’s strategic gender interests are often overshadowed by class-based concerns.
This is one of the main findings by Cynthia Embido Bejeno in her PhD thesis entitled 'On the frontlines: Peasant women and land reform struggles in the Philippines'.
Cynthia Bejeno successfully defended her thesis on 29 October. She found that although peasant struggles in the Philippines are in many cases led by women, women’s strategic gender interests, though equally crucial to advance land reform and achieve integrated justice, are often overshadowed by class-based concerns and not given adequate attention.
Focusing on the provinces of Masbate and Iloilo, she critically interrogated the agrarian praxis in the country and how peasant women in two agrarian communities amplified (or silenced) not only land redistribution, but also the recognition of their rights or gender-based issues as they led the land struggles in their communities.
The cases show peasant women’s key roles in bridging the gap in the country’s exploitative agrarian hierarchy and the silence on gender injustice.
The full thesis will be available for download from the ISS Library
Photos and video of the defence
Photos will be available shortly
