High Culture and the Philippine Middle Class

Abstract

Much of what is problematic about Philippine society is related to the undeveloped role of the middle class. Lacking in both material and linguistic capital, members of the middle class are unable to fulfill their role as the nation’s cultural entrepreneurs. Due to the weakness of the middle class, the possibilities for constructing a viable national imagination are significantly reduced and societally flawed. Instead, this imagination is dominated by the elite which views culture as mere form of display or by the masses which sees culture as only as expression of collective and primordial sentiments. Until the middle class is able to play a more significant role in the constitution and the popularization of culture uninformed elitism and popular misconceptions will continue to undermine Philippine society.