In the end, what kind of political animal am I in the context of what I want to know?

Contemporary model of political animal?

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     The term 'political animal' refers to a person who acts in the arena of politics or has political role. This concept, on the contrary, is not consistent since it depends on the each background of history. For instance, Aristotle stated that 'Man is by nature political animal' where Platon under the concept that limited class with virtue becomes politician asserted the 'rule of philosophers'. In contemporary time, what kind of political animal am I in then?

     In order for us to understand our inquiry and set the standard position for our research topic, review of related literature was inevitable. Throughout this process, we found out that our research topic “What explains the persistent survival of Jeepneys in the Philippines and do Filipino people still perceive jeepneys as a cultural symbol?” primarily concerns the post-colonialism. In our belief, the symbol of jeepneys has been created as nationalism after long period of colonization in the Philippines; a nationalist product. In this vein, we argue that the decolonization after WWII and withdrawal of Americans have attributed to create new type of culture and prosper jeepneys around the country.

A jeepney became a substitute public transportation after WWII.
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     According to Munoz(1995), the colonization period explains the ‘mongrel culture’ in the Philippines. The experience under this period created a new form of culture(damaged and mongrel culture) thus required nationalist culture to be restored for its indigenous culture. Since jeepney is the product of decolonization process, study on the common form of vehicles for commoners during colonization and precolonial period became significant. By comparing both periods, we would easily define the importance of independence along the way to create the indigenous culture, which in our research is jeepney. This would also strengthen the significance of post-colonial era in the Philippines in terms of creating its own culture.

     The post-colonialism would not only guide us for deep and diverse understanding of current situation in the Philippines but also explain the reason why the jeepney is embedded in Philippine culture. Other approach could be utilized in order to explain the prevalence of jeepneys such as class division of drivers and commuters through Marxist approach. Our research topic, on the contrary, mainly focuses on the hermeneutics due to embedded nationalism among Filipinos since 1946. The decolonization process would best explain our inquiry thorough post-colonial approach.

REFERENCES

Constantino, Renato. (1978). Neocolonial identity and counter-consciousness. London, Merlin Press.

Feliciano, Ma. Laurdes.(1987). The cultural symbolism of the jeepney as evident in its decor and design.

Munoz, Mauro Jr. (1995). A layman’s reflection on “culture of nationalism”