The Newsletter 55 Winter 2010

Constituting governance: the US Army in the Philippines, 1898-1920s

Estela Duque

History provides a window for understanding the postcolonial condition, and the region known as Asia cannot be separated from its colonial past. What distinguishes the Philippines from other Asian nations is that it was colonised twice: by Spain from the 16th century, then in the early 20th century by the United States, creating a second overlay of change in urban space. Estela Duque’s investigation into the history of Manila as early 20th century primate city and the impact of the military on civic space shows how the study of cities inevitably involves its peripheries, because human movement was indispensable for colonialism.

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