Wherever I am, the world comes after me.
It offers me its busyness. It does not believe that I do not want it.
Now I understand why the old poets of China went so far
and high into the mountains, then crept into the pale mist.
"The Old Poets of China" by Mary Oliver

Professor Tadem Explores the Impact of Special Economic Zones on the Peasantry in Montreal Conference

Details

Professor Eduardo Tadem of the UP Asian Center presented a paper, “Special Economic Zones and the Peasantry: The Case of the Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport Authority (APECO)” at the Tricontinental Conference on the Development of Natural Resources, which was held from 13 to 14 October 2015 at the University of Quebec au Montreal, Canada. 

Below is an abstract of Professor Tadem’s paper: 

The past decades have seen a proliferation of special economic zones (SEZ) in the Philippines. As an economic development strategy, SEZs are meant to attract investments (mostly foreign) to contribute to the country’s economic growth and generate employment. Situated mainly in the countryside, however, SEZs also take up vast tracts of mainly agriculturally productive lands. In this manner, they encroach on farmlands cultivated by small farmers and indigenous groups. These farmlands are systematically taken over by SEZs by the national as well as local governments without regard for the legal land rights of peasant and other rural families who have been toiling on these lands for decades. This paper depicts the case of the Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport Authority (APECO) in Casiguran and San Ildefonso, Aurora, Philippines, a 12,923-hectare project that will dislocate approximately 3,000 small peasant families, fisherfolk and indigenous Agta households. Aside from disrupting the livelihoods in an agriculturally productive town, APECO will also disturb a large rainforest area and protected watersheds. This paper will also chronicle the struggles of Aurora peasants and Agta families to resist the SEZ and assert their land rights and an alternative vision of rural development. At present, a petition is pending at the Supreme Court to declare the APECO law invalid.

The conference was organized by the Centre interdisciplinaire de recherche en développement international et société (CIRDIS). Learn more about the conference and view the conference program (French). 

Professor Tadem also delivered the paper at the Biennial Conference of the Canadian Council for Southeast Asian Studies, which was held at the University of Ottawa from 15 to 17 October 2015. 

Photo: Professor Tadem at the conference. Courtesy of Dr. Ed Tadem. Click to enlarge. 

The Asian Center offers M.A. degrees in Asian Studies with four fields of specialization: Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, and West Asia. The Center also has an M.A. program in Philippine Studies that allows students to major in Philippine society and culture, Philippine foreign relations, or Philippine development studies. The Center offers a Ph.D. program in Philippine Studies in conjunction with the College of Arts and Letters and the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy. For an overview of these graduate programs, click here. The Asian Center also publishes Asian Studies: Journal of Critical Perspectives on Asia, the latest issue of which can be downloaded at the journal's website. View recent and upcoming Lectures & Conferences and read other News & Announcements. Join our mailing list to receive invitations to lectures, conferences, etc.