Kritika Kultura launches 25th anniversary edition of ‘Toward A Nationalist Feminism’

On 13 August 2024, Kritika Kultura and Gantala Press, in cooperation with Ateneo de Manila’s Literary and Cultural Studies Program and its official student arm PLUME, launched the 25th anniversary edition of Toward A Nationalist Feminism by writer/activist Delia D Aguilar. The launch featured a lecture by Dr Aguilar titled “How Times Have Changed” with students, scholars, and activists in attendance, including members of the women’s organization Katipunan ng Kababaihan para sa Kalayaan (KALAYAAN).

Dr Charlie Samuya Veric, Director of the Literary and Cultural Studies Program, formally opened the launch by contextualizing the first publication of Toward A Nationalist Feminism in 1998, when the country was commemorating the centenary of the declaration of Philippine independence.

“The feminism that my peers and I learned [in college] was a direct import from the U.S. that highlighted market-based individualism,” Veric said. “[It was] derived directly from the rise of the New Left in the West, which eventually promoted the so-called politics of recognition to the exclusion of the politics of redistribution. The politics of individualism trumped the politics of collective action. The individual body ruled over the body politic.”

He added: “For Aguilar, this kind of feminism was inadequate. It sought to prop up the global system of market liberalism that led to the impoverishment of many for the benefit of the very few. By taking feminism away from the grip of white academic feminism and back to the everyday needs and hopes of ordinary women of color in the Philippines and beyond, Delia has worked to reconnect the cause of feminism to the cause of the unfinished Philippine revolution.”

After Dr Aguilar’s lecture came an open forum, followed by messages and notes from the team behind the book’s republication: KK Editor-in-Chief Dr Vincenz Serrano, who talked about Kritika Kultura lectures prior to the launch; Dr Jeffrey Cabusao of Bryant University on their preparation of the lectures and the book project; and Faye Cura of Gantala Press, who spoke about the production process and the book’s cover art.

Misty Jill Valle, a Literature major from the Literary and Cultural Studies Program also shared a few words about the book, as well as Prof Sarah Raymundo of the University of the Philippines Center for International Studies – Diliman. Dr Maria Luisa Torres Reyes, editor emerita of Kritika Kultura, current editor-in-chief of UNITAS, and professor at the University of Santo Tomas, also relayed her insights on the book’s 25th anniversary.

The launch continued with a cultural performance by Aniya Kalinaw, a member of the Asian Music for Peoples’ Peace and Progress (AMP3), a collective of artists across Asia working together to build a community, share and promote people’s music, and support local struggles. After, Dr Serrano formally closed the launch and the book signing began. 

To learn more about Kritika Kultura, visit its Facebook page or the Literary and Cultural Studies Program of Ateneo de Manila. To know more about Gantala Press, visit their website, Facebook, or Instagram.