The Introduction of Credit Institutions in the Rural Philippines: A Case Study of Culture Contact and Change
Abstract
CHAPTER IINTRODUCTIONIn the Philippines today, the program for the establishment of rural banks and farmer’s cooperatives has been given considerable attention. The significance of the program is reflected in its apparent success compared to the failures of past government attempts to solve the farmer’s perennial problem of credit. However, in a case where an informal pattern of credit between the landlord and the tenant has been established for the past four hundred years, the problem of resistance is being strongly felt. In sociological terms, the new program presents itself as an interesting case of social change.The following study is an attempt to make a sociological analysis of a particular phenomenon of culture contact and change. The kind of social change here studied is one of diffusion brought about by the deliberate introduction of formalized credit institutions to the Filipino rural community. A theoretical frame of reference is constructed as a first step in order to set down the conceptual tools for the analysis of the case.The organization of data is guided by the theoretical framework. The traditional credit pattern which involves a significant landlord-tenant relationship is first examined within the socioeconomic structure of the rural culture. The relationship of credit to the tenancy practices and the existing land distribution is analyzed and traced from its historical roots. The problem of credit among the Filipino farmers cannot be understood outside this historical setting.
Subject Area
Economics|Agriculture|Sociology
Recommended Citation
Silayan, Aurora Payuma, "The Introduction of Credit Institutions in the Rural Philippines: A Case Study of Culture Contact and Change" (1958). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI28673346.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI28673346
