Social Dynamics towards Kapwa
Reading: Katrin de Guia's "Indigenous Values for Sustainable Nation Building"
Welcome to the study group, where we will be exploring and discussing resources on folk psychology and indigenized spirituality, with a focus on Philippine culture. This is a self-paced study. You can catch up on previous resources here.
Psychology Towards Liberation
In the 1960s, Filipino social scientists started to question the way foreigners interpreted our attitudes and behaviors. Some local scholars had the opportunity to study abroad and realized that something was wrong with the way psychology was taught. They didn’t fully resonate with what was supposedly a field that studied universal human experiences. Upon returning to the Philippines, they started the movement that would be known as Sikolohiyang Pilipino, which studies the Filipino experience from the Filipino’s experience.
Sikolohiyang Pilipino, as an indigenous psychology, explores traditionally “othered” ways of knowing. So, it has a very, very long way to go in its subversion of mainstream—that is, western—psychology. But we’re here, and we’re carving out our niches, and we are participating in the global dialogue. Sikolohiyang Pilipino is more than just abstract theorizing—its intention is practical: to collaborate with marginalized communities, empower underrepresented voices, and work towards the liberation of the Filipino psyche. Para sa malaya at mapagpalayang sikolohiya!1
What’s so wrong when foreigners interpret our psychology?
Certain attitudes can be distorted to suit a colonial lens, which creates unfair stereotypes based on misunderstanding. Colonial (mis)interpretations also give them an excuse to “educate” us in “civilized” ways. Foreign interpretations also use their own culture as the standard through which our culture is measured. How can you measure a collectivistic culture with the tools of an individualistic culture?
Resource for Today
Today’s resource comes from Dr. Katrin de Guia, German-born author of Kapwa: Self in the Other. She got her PhD in Philippine psychology. Her husband, National Artist Kidlat Tahimik, is a filmmaker whose work critiques neocolonialism. Read more about Dr. De Guia here.
Let’s read her article, Indigenous Values for Sustainable Nation Building. Access it here.
Reflection Questions
What struck you the most about this resource? Which concepts resonate the most, and which ones still seem a little alien to you?
What does this resource say about the Filipino identity, particularly your identity as a Filipino?
How could the ideas in this resource be useful to your daily life?
For a liberated (malaya) and liberating (mapagpalaya) psychology!
1. These last few articles have definitely added to my desire (which has already been there) to learn Tagalog, and maybe Ilocano someday. These words/concepts in particular were very captivating and really resonated with me: kapwa, pakikipagkapwa, hindi iba sa akin, kagandahang-loob, kusang-loob, and paki-ramdam.
I really enjoyed learning about the history of Sikolohiyang Filipino. It made me think of "Brown Skin, White Minds: Filipino - American Postcolonial Psychology" by E. J. R. David. Interestingly, even as a 2nd/3rd generation mixed Filipinx-American, I don't find these concepts to be alien. Learning about them, is kind of like coming home, in a way. The concepts make sense to me and probably help to explain why I've always wanted to be a part of, and maintain a connection with, Fil-Am community.
Katrin de Guia's article also made me think of the power of language for systems of knowledge. At the University of British Columbia, where I attended grad school, they have an indigenous First Nation's library that is organized according to indigenous knowledge/concepts: https://xwi7xwa.library.ubc.ca/collections/indigenous-knowledge-organization/. As a librarian, I loved this idea because our knowledge systems (something as simple as the Dewey Decimal Classification System) and our information technologies can, and often do, include biases, many of which are Western/colonialist.
Back in August, I had attended a Filipinx Buddhist meditation sangha, called Gathering Kapwa. One of the speakers, professor Lorene Jabola, described Fil-Am identity as being thrice colonized: first by the Spanish Catholic colonizers, then by the Americans (and briefly by the Japanese), and then through the process of assimilation that happens when immigrating to the U.S. However, what arose during that sangha, and what I often experience when I read, watch, or listen to Filipinx and/or Filipinx-American content, and/or what I often experience in Filipinx and Filipinx diaspora communities, is that there is still something very enduring and connecting. Whether that is the spirit of kapwa or bayanihan, or even a felt sense of our indigenous/collectivist/communal roots, I don't know, but I can now say that it is certainly paki-ramdam.
2. There is a lot that this resources says about Filipinx identity and really the majority of the concepts in this article resonated for me. I also appreciated the suggestion that the core Filipinx values of personhood, paki-ramdan, kapwa, and kagandahang-loob, could be a "prophylactic" for ones mental health as well as a possible way to return to indigenous knowledges and practices that are more ecological. I was also so charmed by de Guia's description of "Filipino time" or "cosmic," "organic," or "felt" time. Whenever I run late, I joke about being on "Filipino time," and reading about it being described as cosmic, organic, felt, and/or seasonal makes me feel much better about instances when I take my time or allow myself to go slowly.
3. In buddhism, there is the idea of interdependence and/or interconnectivity and it is often taught alongside concepts like "interbeing" or "interdependent arising." When we think about interdependence and interconnectivity on a communal/societal level, it isn't difficult to see how very dependent we are upon each other, even in very individualistic cultures. We "inter-are" with our family members and ancestors, we "inter-are" with grocery store clerks and food vendors, we "inter-are" with our friends and coworkers, etc. I plan on reflecting more on kapwa, pakikipagkapwa, and kagandahang-loob when I meditate on interbeing/interdependence and lovingkindness, also called metta in Pali.
Maraming salamat po! Thank you so much for all of these fabulous readings.
1. Reading about pakiramdam unlocked something deep inside me. This word is new to me, but it shines a spotlight into my past to illuminate so many misunderstood childhood experiences. I realize that much of my mom’s parenting was about practicing pakiramdam with her. She was teaching me to sense and attune with others, and that the world we live in happens underneath the level of words. I feel that this need for nonverbal, intuitive, emotional expression in an American landscape where direct, verbal expression is the norm led me to become a musician. Music created spaces for me to connect with others in ways that are grounded in the bodily intuitions and emotional resonance.
2. The kapwa orientations of Sikolohiyang Pilipino have been following me around since reading de Guia’s essay a few weeks ago. I’ve been meditating on how the core values represent ways of being human across various contexts. We are all born into a world that already exists, into contexts we did not choose. We find kapwa by practicing pakiramdam to attune with and become one with those who share our present context, whether they are ibang tao or hindi ibang tao. Life is practicing pakikipagkapwa within the contexts we find ourselves in. Diba?
A Filipino identity grounded in kapwa is inclusive and realized in no-self. It is identity as a shared process, not a homogenized point of view. It is identity that exists below the level of words. But words are important for pointing into our inner depths with those who do not identify with us yet.
3. Sikolohiyang Pilipino creates a framework for decolonization and healing. The violence of colonization is relational. Colonial violence relies on dehumanization and disconnection. To heal, we need to be witnessed. We must return to each other. Decolonization, for me, is not about returning to some past state, but witnessing the past to heal the wounds my ancestors were unable to heal themselves. It is about expressing my humanity and connecting with others so that we can witness each other in kapwa.