In celebration of the fifty-fifth anniversary of the IPC
the Institute of Philippine Culture (IPC), School of Social Sciences (SoSS)
and the
SoSS Research Cluster on Knowledge and Social Innovation
are pleased to invite you to a
Research Forum
on
Mobilizing Social Science Knowledge
for Policy Formulation and Social Development
featuring presentations by
Mary Racelis
Research Scientist, Institute of Philippine Culture
Professorial Lecturer, Department of Sociology and Anthropology
Michael Pante
Faculty, Department of History
Associate Editor, Philippine Studies: Historical and Ethnographic Viewpoints
Angela Desiree M. Aguirre
Research Associate, Institute of Philippine Culture
and moderated by
Dr. Czarina A. Saloma-Akpedonu
Convenor, SoSS Research Cluster on Knowledge and Social Innovation
Research Associate, Institute of Philippine Culture
Associate Professor, Department of Sociology and Anthropology
School of Social Sciences
Wednesday, 23 September 2015
4:30 – 6:00 p.m.
Faura Audio-Visual Room
Ateneo de Manila University
Loyola Heights, Quezon City
About the Forum
A joint offering of the Institute of Philippine Culture (IPC) and the SoSS Research Cluster on Knowledge and Social Innovation of the School of Social Sciences (SOSS), this Research Forum interrogates how Knowledge Mobilization—or the use of knowledge towards the achievement of goals—can provide inputs for policy formulation and generate social change and development. The three resource persons will be speaking on this theme which is a specific interest of the SOSS Research Cluster on Knowledge and Social Innovation, and based on research they have conducted under the auspices of the Institute of Philippine Culture (IPC).
Abstracts of the Presentations
Mary Racelis’s presentation is entitled “Objectivity? Advocacy? Or Both? The Case for Engaged Social Science Research” (with a focus on Engaged or Public Anthropology). Whereas early anthropological field researchers mainly from Europe or the United States emphasized the principle of objectivity or neutrality in the course of data gathering and analysis, many social science researchers including anthropologists by the second half of the twentieth century, however, began to question the norm of professional detachment from their “subjects,” and became scholar-practitioners committed to helping and taking sides with their subject populations. This was a result of perceived negative effects of global incursions on ordinary people—displacement, forced migration, externally generated development programs, unrelenting market forces, warfare, and even genocide—on families and communities. Examples of engaged social science research in the Philippines as well as strategies for sustaining activist scholarship with and for people will be discussed in this presentation.
In his presentation entitled “From Knowledge to Policy: Mobilizing Social Science Knowledge in the Philippine Food Staples Self-Sufficiency Program,” Michael D. Pante will be presenting the research highlights of a study he conducted with Michael B. Syson and Czarina Saloma-Akpedonu. This study is part of the IPC Merit Research Award (MRA) Program-supported research on “Knowledge Mobilization/Ignorance Mobilization for Rural Development: How the Social Sciences Influence Policy (and vice versa) in the Philippines” of the SoSS Cluster on Knowledge Mobilization and Innovation (convened by Dr. Saloma-Akpedonu). The aforementioned research project presents a sample of different quantitative methods to measure the impact of the social sciences on a chosen state policy, the Food Self-Sufficiency Program (FSSP) of the Department of Agriculture (DOA) of the Philippines. Each method used reveals a different facet of the process behind the utilization of a wide array of previously published social science research works (in the form of books, journal articles, and the like) toward a specific policy-making goal. Mr. Pante’s presentation of their study answers the following questions: Which particular social scientists and social science works have contributed the most to the crafting of the policy? Which particular schools of thought are most prominent in the policy? Which particular schools of thought have been excluded in policy making? The results of this research reveal that particular networks of social scientists and their respective schools of thought are given a privileged position in the crafting of the FSSP. These findings challenge the assumed inclusiveness of state policies that have a direct impact on grassroots communities.
In her presentation on “Engaging Communities in Doing Child Friendly Research,” Angela Desiree M. Aguirre will draw on her vast experience in doing IPC studies on child rights and the promotion of Child Friendly Communities. In particular, her presentation will focus on the IPC study “Situational Analysis for the Child Friendly Communities Program” supported by the Intervida Philippine Foundation (IPF), and covering six partner municipalities in the provinces of Camarines Sur, Albay, and Sorsogon. In her presentation, Ms Aguirre will highlight how the conduct of the situational analysis of the child friendly communities programs of these municipalities was facilitated by the IPC’s research partnership with the communities (barangays). In preparation for the site-specific situational analysis reports, the IPC, under the directorship of Ms Aguirre, conducted training on community research for the Barangay Appraisal Teams. The latter served as the key data collectors at the community level, with the barangay members themselves conducting the assessment sessions (focus group discussions) with children, male and female adolescents, and parents. Ms Aguirre will conclude her presentation with insights on how research undertaken by the community members themselves impacts on programming for Child Friendly Communities.
Program (moderated by Dr. Czarina A. Saloma-Akpedonu)
4:00 − 4:30 pm: REGISTRATION
4:30 − 4:35 pm: OPENING CEREMONIES
- Philippine National Anthem
- Welcome remarks (by Dr. Marita Castro Guevara, PhD, Director, Institute of Philippine Culture)
4:35 – 4:40 pm: INTRODUCTION OF THE SPEAKERS (by Dr. Czarina A. Saloma-Akpedonu)
4:40 − 5:00 pm: PRESENTATION BY PROF. MARY RACELIS
(“Objectivity? Advocacy? Or Both? The Case for Engaged Social Science Research”)
5:00 – 5:20 pm: PRESENTATION BY MICHAEL D. PANTE
(“From Knowledge to Policy: Mobilizing Social Science Knowledge in the Philippine Food Staples Self-Sufficiency Program”)
5:20 – 5:40 pm: PRESENTATION BY ANGELA DESIREE M. AGUIRRE
(“Engaging Communities in Doing Child Friendly Research”)
5:40 – 6:00 pm: OPEN FORUM
6:00 p.m. END OF PROGRAM
********************
* For inquiries or confirmation of your attendance, please contact the Institute of Philippine Culture (IPC) at
(+63 2) 426-6001 ext. 4651 loc. 213, or (+63 2) 426 6067 loc. 213; or email us at to <ipc.soss@ateneo.edu>.