Agnes M. BRAZAL, A Theology of Southeast Asia: Liberation Postcolonial Ethics in the Philippines. Maryknoll NY: Orbis Books, 2019. pp. xxxvi+204. $36.00 pb. ISBN 978-1-62698-292-5. Reviewed by James T. BRETZKE, S.J., John Carroll University, University Heights, OH 44118.

In this book Brazal, who is a Filipina theologian teaching at De La Salle University in Manila, explores theories of post-colonial critique before turning to the Philippine context investigating the themes of feminism, ecology, over-seas migrant workers, and populism in the age of Philippine President Duterte and the impact of social media such as Facebook on the political and social milieu.  The book grew out of the 2017 Boston College Duffy Lectures.  The Introduction gives a brief overview of various approaches to “post-colonialism” before turning in Chapter One to a literature and theological history review of vernacular hermeneutics that largely grew out of the Marcos dictatorship in the Philippines (1975-1986). 

Chapter Two looks at various Philippine social movements through the lens of Jamaican neo-Marxist cultural theorist Stuart Hall’s “circuit of culture” which delineates five major cultural processes of representation, identity, production, consumption and regulation. Chapter Three focuses on a brief history of feminism in the Philippine academic milieu before centering on “Bai theology” which she describes as the predominant strand of post-colonial feminist theology in the Philippines.

Chapters Four and Five concern the indigenous peoples of the Philippines and the lower class, many of whom are employed as overseas foreign workers.  The remittances sent home by these workers constitute a major source of income for the Philippine economy and have played a major role in the construction of contemporary Philippine society. Chapter Five in particular analyzes this phenomenon through the perspective of an inculturated Filipino virtue ethics centering on the concept of Utang na Loobthat Brazal translates as “debt of solidarity.”  This chapter is both the most creative and strongest contribution the book makes toward the study of the inculturation of moral theology.

The final Chapter Six and Epilogue look at the global phenomenon of populism and the explosion of the presence and impact of social media.  In this chapter, B. concentrates on the current Philippine strongman President Rodrigo Duterte (2016--) and the role that Facebook has played in the political sphere.

The book is helpful for its historical overview and literature review of many Filipino theologians. However, the notion of “theology” as a discipline is more presumed than presented, and greater explicit attention to articulating a theological understanding of inculturation in the Filipino context would have helped immensely.