Power and Intimacy in the Christian Philippines, Fenella Cannell

As studies of lowland, “Christianized” Philippine culture go, this is easily one of the most insightful works to be published since Ileto’s Pasyon and Revolution. Both works deal to some extent with how people manage power inequalities. Like Ileto’s Pasyon, Cannell’s study shows how lowland Filipinos this time in the Bicol region—have interpreted Christian symbols according to local concepts of power. However, Christian symbolism is only one aspect of Cannell’s work, and because of this, her ..