Monday, August 18, 2008 Sumog-uy: Yaman-Gensan: A Conceptual Review By Ben Sumog-uy Issues and Views
(Fourth Part)
AT THIS juncture, let us proceed to situate Yaman GenSan in the prevailing theoretical debate so that we may be able to see its marks in the entire development vista and discover how it relates with the prevailing development theories. Until now, we are still embroiled in a continuing debate centering on two colliding social theories -- the paradox of our modern times. They are the following:
The first theory is what social activists termed as "economic liberalism." This theory contends that giving the foreign capital too much liberality to intervene in the economic life of our basic communities could result to radical increases in Gross Domestic Products (GDP) and speed up, at the same time, the attainment of local economic development.
The second theory is ideologically labeled as "economic protectionism." This theory postulates that allowing domestic forces to dominate the local economic landscape could usher genuine and meaningful economic development in the locality for this enables the local inhabitants to take control of their own resources and encourages them to unleash their creative energies toward meaningful change and genuine local development.
These two contending theories remain to be the subject of debate among world?s renowned political economists and it is still difficult to determine which side is winning. But certainly, as the debate goes on and on, people are losing interest to look at the issue as a matter of "black and white" or to see an end to the debate and to know which between the two theories is superior.
There is now a widening section within the progressive movements that does not swallow either of the two theories hook-line-and-sinker. It considers these major theories as simply inadequate to capture the prevailing social issues, define the workings of society and shape its future.
Liberalism is just too economist and doctrinal so as to capture the whole gamut of community life and dynamics and synergies of the prevailing local socio-cultural and politico-economic forces. On the other hand, protectionism, as a social theory, is not only objectionable because of its largely isolationist perspective but because of its usual tendencies to limit the exploratory powers of the human mind within the constricted sphere of local power structures and the people's analysis and understanding of the varied causes of their prevailing life's situation.
Culled from series of public pronouncements of our local officials and of the different functionaries behind the SMED Council, it appears that Yaman GenSan, as a social concept and as a development program, was not designed to exactly conform to any of the above-discussed ideological labelings or pose any countervailing ideas to either of these two theories.
The social lane along which it travels in pursuit of certain goals is wholly its own and was not built out of the experiences of the people who existed in different time and space.
The social theory, therefore, on which Yaman GenSan is anchored, is a product of the summation and distillation of local experiences, with the city government and other partner agencies and institutions, public and private, leading the way.
As, itself, a human project, Yaman GenSan takes its roots in a comprehensive analysis of given objective conditions and is culled from the dynamic interplays of subjective local forces within varied historical strands and economic epochs following its birthing.
The conceptual edifice, which changes forms to suit the given realities and within which Yaman GenSan operates, is coming to life through the continuing narrative building work by various institutions and formations involved in this program.
This narrative work simply means taking time to recount and reflect on our activities and discourses and to draw important lessons from them. Consequently, the lessons that we could draw from our ritualistic retrospection of past events serve as ideas, precepts and guideposts for our future actions and decisions.
