The underside of progress: Land, labor, and violence in two Philippine growth zones, 1985–1995

Abstract

This article focuses on the role of violence, intimidation, and political conflict in setting the terms under which industrialization and other forms of capitalist development are proceeding in suburban growth zones in the Philippines. Conflicts, often violent and protracted, over land usage and labor rights have pitted the suburban poor—tenant farmers, squatters, and laborers—against powerful local government officials, real estate moguls, manufacturing firms, and labor racketeers in the growth zones. Drawing on research in the provinces of Cavite and Cebu, the author traces the different ways in which violence and intimidation have driven down the price of land and labor in order to attract investment and to enforce a highly skewed distribution of the fruits of growth. The study of the political economy of growth in Southeast Asia, the article suggests, must include an appreciation of the role of politics in determining the factors of production—not just capital, but land and labor as well.