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Kautilya in the Age of Imperialism: An Arthashastran Reading of American Colonial Strategies in Mindanao and the Agency of Mindanawon Actors, 1898-193
Paperback
Series: Mindanao Studies
PhilosophyGeneral Political ScienceInternational Relations
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ISBN13: 9798254270324
Publisher: Independently Published
Published: Apr 25 2026
Pages: 168
Weight: 0.51
Height: 0.36 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
Publisher: Independently Published
Published: Apr 25 2026
Pages: 168
Weight: 0.51
Height: 0.36 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
The American colonization of the Philippines, and Mindanao in particular, extended the reach of Manifest Destiny beyond the Americas and transformed it into a transoceanic experiment in imperial domination. However, current scholarship on the matter has left the complex diversity and agency of Mindanawon actors underexamined. To address this crucial gap, this book developed a comprehensive and holistic picture of the US colonization of Mindanao from 1898 to 1935. The authors applied Kautilya's Arthashastra, following Deepshikha Shahi's social constructivist reading as the interpretative analytic key. The Rajamandalic reconstruction of the political-geographic composition of Mindanao identified Hispanized
communities, Moro polities, and Lumad groups as active local actors at the dawn of American colonization. Leveraging the elements of its sovereignty, the US conquered these Mindanawon actors through its own version of the Six-fold policy, which employed strategies ranging from violent military campaigns to nonviolent approaches. The response of Mindanao actors to American colonization was diverse and dynamic, compelling continual recalibration of US colonial strategies to navigate its fluid and complex relations with the colonized. By providing a bird's-eye view of Mindanao during the early decades of American colonization and by centering Mindanawon agency within a non-Western framework, this study challenges Western and Manila-centric narratives of mere victimhood and defeat, offering a nuanced perspective that reinterprets the island's colonization as a negotiated process rather than a one-sided conquest. Praise For Kautilya in the Age of Imperialism It was a delight to read the work of Hojilla, Cagoco and Chan, who, in writing about the diversity of Mindanao's peoples and contexts, could have easily been writing about an entire continent. That is no mean feat. The 21st Century formalization and implementation of ASEAN comprehensive security practices, involving not just the military but economic and socio-political actors, breathes new life into the analytical value of Arthashastran conceptual tools today. Seeing the range of insights derived from this innovative theoretical approach to Mindanawon political history, one can sincerely hope that the authors' work will inspire similar projects in the future. - Frances Antoinette Cruz, PhD,
Assistant Professor,
Department of European Languages,
College of Arts and Letters,
University of the Philippines - Diliman Building empire, even through successful pacification, is never straightforward. The Arthashastran approach liberates hitherto marginal voices at the receiving end of empire and draws attention to the crafty employment of languages of coercion and accommodation. These have left dreadful effects in the dependent nature of many Asian foreign policies today. A highly recommended contribution to Global IR. - Alan Chong, PhD,
Senior Fellow,
Center for Multilateralism Studies,
S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies,
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore CONTENTS List of Figures List of Tables Publisher's Foreword Preface Introduction: Centering Mindanao in the American Colonization of the Philippines Chapter 1: The Arthashastran Conceptual Tools in the American Colonization of Mindanao Chapter 2: The Political-Geographic Composition of the 'New Frontier' and the Emergence of the New Vijigisu Chapter 3: Uncle Sam's Six-Fold Policy and Sovereignty over Mindanao: The American Colonial Strategies as Civilizing Mission
Chapter 4: The Rajamandalic Agential Responses of Mindanawon Actors to American Colonization Conclusion: Learning from the Legacies of the Past Acknowledgments Bibliography Index
Assistant Professor,
Department of European Languages,
College of Arts and Letters,
University of the Philippines - Diliman Building empire, even through successful pacification, is never straightforward. The Arthashastran approach liberates hitherto marginal voices at the receiving end of empire and draws attention to the crafty employment of languages of coercion and accommodation. These have left dreadful effects in the dependent nature of many Asian foreign policies today. A highly recommended contribution to Global IR. - Alan Chong, PhD,
Senior Fellow,
Center for Multilateralism Studies,
S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies,
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore CONTENTS List of Figures List of Tables Publisher's Foreword Preface Introduction: Centering Mindanao in the American Colonization of the Philippines Chapter 1: The Arthashastran Conceptual Tools in the American Colonization of Mindanao Chapter 2: The Political-Geographic Composition of the 'New Frontier' and the Emergence of the New Vijigisu Chapter 3: Uncle Sam's Six-Fold Policy and Sovereignty over Mindanao: The American Colonial Strategies as Civilizing Mission
Chapter 4: The Rajamandalic Agential Responses of Mindanawon Actors to American Colonization Conclusion: Learning from the Legacies of the Past Acknowledgments Bibliography Index
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