2023-01Thematic Section
Like Marginalia in the Canon of the Oppressors: Critical Theorizing at the Margin and Attempts for Redemptive Alternatives

Abstract:

Bestrewn with relics of subjugation, the frameworks that hinge on social progress have failed to appraise the plight of the marginalized in the democratic discourse. This is the case in the Philippines, as in other fringed spaces caught in hegemonic world-building. In this setup, emancipation is anchored in salvific attempts – salvaging the marginalized from a messianic standpoint. This tends to produce a pejorative image of the marginalized as incapable of self-determination. I argue in a three-part discussion: (1) reexamine the locus of the margin in critical theorizing; (2) retrace the act of recognition vis-à-vis the emancipative struggle; (3) present that the lifeworld of the marginalized offers redemptive alternatives for emancipation. Further, I argue that this offers a foremost framework in critical theorizing at the margin since their situatedness affords a stance that has not formed a patina of the West but is primarily informed by their rich local periphery.

Keywords:

critical theory, marginalization, emancipation, redemptive alternative, indigenous, margin

How to cite:

Villacampa, Renz M. “Like Marginalia in the Canon of the Oppressors: Critical Theorizing at the Margin and Attempts for Redemptive Alternatives.” Eidos. A Journal for Philosophy of Culture 7, no. 1 (2023):  65-80. https://doi.org/10.14394/eidos.jpc.2023.0005.

Author:

Renz M. Villacampa
Graduate School, University of Santo Tomas
España Blvd, Sampaloc, Manila, 1008 Metro Manila, Philippines;
Department of Philosophy, University of Baguio
General Luna Rd., Baguio, Benguet, Philippines
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5586-1428
renz.villacampa.gs@ust.edu.ph

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