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|a This book portrays the translation of social relationships into political and economic life in the Philippines. It considers in particular the influence upon the nature and quality of institutions and practices which arise from shifts in attitude towards social relationships - shifts which might be characterised as being on a continuum with, at one extreme, an attitude which regards social relationships as ideals or absolutes, and which emphasises individualism, institutional probity and the rule of law, and, at the other extreme, an attitude where loyalties based on kinship, local networks and places of origin are vitally important, and where social relationships, institutions and practices are often material for manipulation and the pursuit of ambition. The book argues that, whether inchoate business, powerful company, community association or central bureaucracy, its characteristics and the smallest details of its working are shaped by these movements in attitude. Regarded as material for manipulation, the translation of relationships brings with it fission, uncertainty, instability, and an obsession with monitoring, auditing and image-play. Treated as expedient absolutes or as if ideals, their translation leads to greater stability, openness, clarity, probity, and professionalism. The implications of these ideas for material progress, social science thought, and the notion of cultural difference - East and West, North and South
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