Defending Liberalism in the Global South: Notes from Duterte's Philippines

Scholars of the Global South often portray liberal philosophy as the antinomy of a more radical postcolonial politics. This essay asks if it is possible to integrate visions of liberal Enlightenment into conceptions of southern politics. Beginning with a theoretical engagement with illiberal scholarship, this essay argues that much of this literature has reduced liberalism's history into clichés about its homogenizing tendencies and its associations with contemporary neoliberalism. Ending with a discussion of the Philippines under the populist authoritarian, Rodrigo Duterte, illustrates the need for a renewed liberalism in the Global South.