Ateneo University Press launches James Francis Warren’s “Typhoons: Climate, Society, and History in the Philippines”

On Tuesday, 12 March 2024, the Ateneo University Press launched a new book from historian and professor James Francis Warren entitled Typhoons: Climate, Society, and History in the Philippines. 

An emeritus professor of modern Southeast Asian history at Murdoch University, Professor 
Warren is an award-winning historian whose books include The Sulu Zone, 1768-1898: The Dynamics of External Trade, Slavery and Ethnicity in the Transformation of a Southeast Asian Maritime State (eds. 1981, 2007, and 2021); Iranun and Balangingi: Globalisation, Maritime Raiding, and the Birth of Ethnicity (2002); Pirates, Prostitutes, and Pullers: Explorations in the Ethno and Social History of Southeast Asia (2008); Rickshaw Coolie: A People’s History of Singapore, 1880–1940 (1986 and 2003); and Ah Ku and Karayuki San: Prostitution in Singapore, 1870–1940 (1993 and 2003).

The book launch was in partnership with the Department of History and the School of Social Sciences, and was attended by various members of the Ateneo community. Dr Francis Navarro of the Department of History and Director of the University Archives hosted the event. 

Dr Maria Luz C Vilches, Vice President for Higher Education, delivered the opening remarks. “This book is a product of a 30-year research on a half millennium of typhoons, climate change, and the impact of all of these cataclysmic events on peoples and societies in the Philippines,” she began. “The book title itself, to me, already graphically outlines the non-negotiable characters that play a part in the narratives that we have experienced [to] varying degrees in our lives.”

She shared that Professor Warren is donating his professional library to Ateneo de Manila. “We received the first tranche of the JFW collection in 2021. These resources have been catalogued and are now ready for use by researchers,” Dr Vilches said. “We look forward to receiving the succeeding tranches of his professional library.”

“Thank you, Professor Warren, that we are celebrating with you, through this launch, yet another milestone in your long and fruitful career as a scholar and historian,” she ended.

Three notable scholars and academics shared their thoughts and reviews on the book: Dr Walden Bello, author of Counterrevolution: The Global Rise of the Far Right, Dr Mary Racelis of the Institute of Philippine Culture, and Dr Greg Bankoff, author of Cultures of Disaster: Society and Natural Hazards in the Philippines. 

For his part, Professor Warren acknowledged those who worked side by side with him—from research, to copy editing, to getting the manuscript to publication—and presented the general contents of the book. 

The launch ended with an open forum and a book signing with the author. 

Typhoons: Climate, Society, and History in the Philippines is now available for purchase at the Ateneo Press Bookshop in Bellarmine Hall or on Shopee and Lazada.