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Social Engineering in the Philippines: The Aims, Execution, and Impact of American Colonial Policy, 1900-1913
Hardcover
First published April 1, 1980
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September 20, 2021
It's a decent though somewhat dating look at the goals and failures of the Taft commission's 3-pronged program to prepare the Philippines for self government. May does not avoid the inherent racism in the assumption they plan was based upon, and through a topical narrative explores the development of the plan, the goals of each major part of the program and why they failed.
It's certainly not an apologist history of American occupation in the Philippines, though it does try to balance the honest beliefs of the commission members and why they though their plans would be beneficial to the islands with the broader Filipino desire for America to leave them alone. That last idea is fairly thinly sourced, as it usually is in histories of the Philippines given the difficulty in accessing such sources, but it's shown fairly well through the narrative and the consistent resistance to American programs throughout the islands.
Is it a book to pick up because you're curious about the history of American occupation in the Philippines? Probably not, as there are plenty of more accessible histories. But as a scholarly source it fits well into the broader literature of the American-controlled Philippines, even if some of May's conclusions and assumptions have been challenged by later researchers.
It's certainly not an apologist history of American occupation in the Philippines, though it does try to balance the honest beliefs of the commission members and why they though their plans would be beneficial to the islands with the broader Filipino desire for America to leave them alone. That last idea is fairly thinly sourced, as it usually is in histories of the Philippines given the difficulty in accessing such sources, but it's shown fairly well through the narrative and the consistent resistance to American programs throughout the islands.
Is it a book to pick up because you're curious about the history of American occupation in the Philippines? Probably not, as there are plenty of more accessible histories. But as a scholarly source it fits well into the broader literature of the American-controlled Philippines, even if some of May's conclusions and assumptions have been challenged by later researchers.
Displaying 1 of 1 review