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Contractual and stewardship timescapes: The cultural logics of US–Philippines environmental conflict and negotiations
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 February 2021
Abstract
In 1992, the US military withdrew from its bases in the Philippines. But they left behind environmental toxins that continue to pollute the land and people. Why was the US military able to leave without cleaning up this environmental damage? What can the environment tell us about the broader Philippine–US relationship? In this article I analyse a 2002 class action lawsuit against the United States regarding environmental damages caused by the US military. I argue that at the heart of these legal arguments are different understandings of time and history, what I call a contractual timescape versus a stewardship timescape.
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- Research Article
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- Copyright © The National University of Singapore, 2021
Footnotes
The author would like to thank David Biggs, participants in the 2018 Southeast Asian Natures workshop, and participants in UCR Center for Ideas and Society's Advancing Intercultural Studies Mellon seminar on ‘Contested histories: How to write history’ for helpful feedback and comments on the manuscript. The author received funding from UCR's Center for Ideas and Society for a course release to participate in the Contested Histories seminar, which allowed her to write this article.
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