Wagering the Land: Ritual, Capital, and Environmental Degradation in the Cordillera of Northern Luzon, 1900-1986

Martin W. Lewis

Wagering the Land: Ritual, Capital, and Environmental Degradation in the Cordillera of Northern Luzon, 1900-1986
Format
Hardback
Publisher
University of California Press
Country
United States
Published
10 December 1991
Pages
294
ISBN
9780520072725

Wagering the Land: Ritual, Capital, and Environmental Degradation in the Cordillera of Northern Luzon, 1900-1986

Martin W. Lewis

Market farming in the rugged northern Philippine highlands has resulted in a unique blend of new and old economic, environmental and religious practices. Predictably, the onset of modern farming methods has brought ecological degradation but, contrary to most theories of rural development, traditional beliefs and communal bonds have flourished at the same time. The explosion of commercial agriculture after World War II, which brought unaccustomed prosperity to the region of Buguias, reinforced the religious practice of lavish feasting. Since the host will have good luck if the ritual succeeds in placating the ancestors, he feels free to adopt the most destructive farming methods. While pursuing heavenly favour these growers are literally wagering their lands, hopeful of gaining prosperity and prestige.

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