The Philippines in World History is the
subject of the Forum section of the October 2017 issue of World
History Connected, but its title conceals what the articles make manifest,
which is the need for discourse on the marginalization of "small" societies in
the pursuit of grand narratives. Without such discourse, practitioners of world
history will be less likely to exploit the dynamic research and pedagogical
opportunities that arise from the best "the macro in the micro" studies that
both valorize human agency (which has been found wanting in grand narratives)
and avoid the parochialism common in national histories. These articles
seek to promote that balance in their effort to: contribute to our
understanding of the many peoples and religions that spread to or were
influenced by that archipelago; measure the impact in Asia of the modern
technological changes that transformed global maritime trade; provide greater
insight into the place of overseas Chinese in the shaping of Philippine
history; and identify the more fluid conception of gender relations in the
region, while also advancing our understanding of the place of the Philippines
in the global pattern of anti-colonial resistance. What emerges from these
studies is a vision of Philippine history that is richer in local, as well as
global significance. Those interested in the history of the people of the
Philippines will be delighted find in these articles that world historians, who
have long addressed the famous Manila-Acapulco Galleon trade as a key episode
in the growth of a global economy, are increasingly comfortable extending their
study of that trade to include the Filipinos themselves, who crewed those
galleons as they crewed much of the merchant marine personnel of Asia. They
will also find that historians from many fields and disciplines are examining
those crew members who left ship in Mexico, forging a link between their
islands and the Americas that continues to this day. Moreover, readers
interested in macro-political change will be asked to consider that the
populist nature of the politics of the current President of the Philippines
bears examination in the context of the contemporary global trend toward
authoritarian regimes.
The Articles section also includes a
study of the imperial borderlands between early twentieth-century Russia
and China, where contact between two vastly different cultures influenced both
foreign and self-identification.
Forthcoming issues of World History
Connected beyond its February issue hopes to feature Forums/articles on
Vikings in World History, the Atlantic World and Graphic literature and World
History. World History Connected seeks submissions in research, in
pedagogy, and those combining the two that promote reasoned discourse about the
local, the global and the "glocal" in world history.
Readers may be interested to know that
this journal has 1.85 million readers of more than two articles and more than 3
million visitors to its website.
Marc Jason Gilbert, Editor
Hawai'i Pacific University
Marc Jason Gilbert is Professor of History and National Endowment for the Humanities Endowed Chair in World History at Hawai'i Pacific University. He can be reached at mgilbert@hpu.edu. |