The Huk Rebellion: A Study of Peasant Revolt in the Philippines

(Paperback)

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Newly available with an updated bibliographic essay, this highly acclaimed work explores the Huk rebellion, a momentous peasant revolt in the Philippines. Unlike prevailing top-down analysis, Kerkvliet seeks to understand the movement from the point of view of its participants and sympathizers. He argues that seeing a peasant revolt through the eyes of those who rebelled explains and clarifies the actions of people who otherwise might appear irrational. Drawing on a rich array of documents and in-depth interviews with peasants and rebel leaders, the author provides definitive answers to the causes of the rebellion, the goals of the rebels, and the process of resistance.

Reviews

The author manages admirably to interweave the sociological analysis of the social configuration with the narration of political and military event. . . . An important contribution to Philippine historiography as well as to the sociology of peasant movements. * American Political Science Review *
[A] fascinating and sometimes even dramatic study. . . . Kerkvliet provides a theoretically important and historically interesting contribution to the understanding of peasant revolt. * Library Journal *
Meticulously researched, intriguing, full of interest, and extremely readable. * Modern Asian Studies *
A magnificent achievementthe best account of a peasant revolt I have ever read. * Far Eastern Economic Review *
A splendid investigation of this agrarian uprising. . . . Kerkvliet analyzes his impressive data with keen insight and elegance. . . . [His] approach gives the book an unusual warmth and poignancy, for the usually muted voices of the peasants are heard. . . . They have found in Kerkvliet an able chronicler of their struggles. * Annals *
The struggle and its participants are brought vividly to life. . . . [Kerkvliet's] numerous short biographies of local participants awaken us to the very human dimension of the struggle. . . . We not only see all this, we hear it, thanks to the numerous quotations which Kerkvliet supplies from his interviews. What is more, we hear both sides. . . . A very persuasive and at times deeply moving account of the agrarian movement in Central Luzon between the 1920s and 1950s. It is a most welcome contribution to our understanding of peasant participation in recent Philippine history, and it offers valuable insights into peasant movements generally. * Philippine Studies: Historical and Ethnographic Viewpoints *

Author Bio

Benedict J. Tria Kerkvliet is head of the Department of Political and Social Change, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies at The Australian National University.