Working Title: An Explorative Study of the Effects of Mobilization on the Academic Performance of Selected Student Activists CHAPTER 1- Introduction

The essential thing is the formation of the political will of the nation: that is the starting point for political action- Adolf Hitler All individuals and all groups find themselves in various relations of power or domination. All groups and individuals encounter obstacles that prevent them from asserting themselves and defending their interests (Touraine, 2009). They always have either to submit or negotiate, or in other words accept a logic that is not really logic of the subject. The notion of conflict is so general that it does not correspond to any one type of action; it corresponds to all actions. It therefore refers to the state of social system, and not a category of actors. Student Activism as defined by Opp (2009), is the degree of student concern for political, economic, and social issues; students involve themselves in the different issues in a specific area. Activism comes from the word active and to the root word, act. Hence, activism is an involvement or pursuing action in any political and social end. This is a doctrine of vigorous and aggressive practice in achieving goals for the society (Shclummp, 2001). According to Quaye (2007), when students become active, their crtical hope often leads to three learning outcomes that are valued in higher education: appreciation of differences, cultivation of students voices, and connection to global society. He stated that, todays students might not protest as the traditional sense, but that does not mean that they are indifferent to social problems within and outside their campus community.

A protest group is, by definition, a collectivity of actors who want to achieve their shared goals or goals by influencing decisions of a target while a social movement is a type of protests group with several distinguishing characteristics such as size and degree of organization (Opp, 2009). These terms are important in the study since there is no specific definition of the terms, these will be used all throughout Activism Orientation is defined as an individuals developed, relatively stable, yet changeably propensity to engage in various collective, social-political, problem solving behaviors spanning a range from low-risk, passive, and institutionalized acts to high-risk, active, and unconventional behaviors (Corning & Myers, 2002). This definition accommodates core elements that cut across several prior definitions of activism: (a) An activist behavior must pursue collective, as opposed to individual, interests; (b) the behavior must intend to address some perceived problem, injustice, or disadvantage affecting the collective; (c) the behaviors must be oriented toward change- either producing change or preventing change that is advocated by a different collective ( Snow& Oliver, 1995 as cited in Corning & Myers, 2002). However, our generation of the Juan Dela Cruz sees activism as a noisy and rebellious. And most of the activists are being tagged and labeled because of their physical manifestations: long haired, a not-so-good fashion with matching black clothes, public outcry, and the makeyour-own life style. But we should be guided in where these student movements started. The student movement was the next major social change movement to develop in the 1960s. That once a upon a time, the Philippines was bounded with intelligent minds and gifted students who are believed to be the catalysts of change of our generation. The situation before and after the Martial Law, highly influenced the perspectives of student activists. Studentry was and is still a powerful faction in society. The students desire to

take active participation in pressing social, national, political, as well as economic issues have made its mark in countries such as France, the Czech Republic, Latin America since the early 1920s, as well as those in Africa, and Asia, particularly the Philippines. The youth, refusing to be stilled, have decided to have a say on their future. Catalysts to this urge would be, first, youthful freedom and interest brightly aflame and not dulled by apprehensiveness over job stability and family problems ( Catedral, 2006). Second is idealism. Unlike the tired and frustrated old man who has undergone lifes harsh realities, the not-soexperienced youth will pursue his dream even against all odds. Third, the still growing youth, unable to contain vibrant energy, shows forth his impulsiveness and impatience. Making him an eager beaver, willing to go where no man has gone before, so to speak. And finally, modern knowledge and sophistication is rampant among the studentry. With these, they have become concerned with more than just petty problems. They have developed a keen awareness of society, environment, government, and human rights. Student Activism is also a major concern of our society, since, our society is facing many political, economic, and social problems, studentry is a major force in making a difference for our society. But we also need to seek for assessment on how students are put into these kinds of activities that involves both physical and intellectual capacity. We may ask now, if all these student activists are aware of what they are doing. We may also ask, if what are their intentions and what are the issues involved in doing these social activities. The researcher will try to develop empirical linkages between movement participation and the academic performance of student activists.

Statement of the Problem: The study will attempt to determine how movement participation affect and influence the academic performance of students around the University Belt. This study is devoted and is still centered on the actors rather than the system. How does movement participation affect the academic performance of student activists in areas of University Belt? With this is mind, the study aimed to: 1. To identify students who are active in mobilizations 2. To determine the effects of mobilizations on student activists academic performance 3. To understand the situation that student activists undergo with regards to their academic performance 4. To view the connection of roles of student activists in different aspect of their lives, to their role as students 5. To determine the relationship between mobilization and academic performance of student activists

Scope and Delimitation: The study will primary be focused on exploring and identifying the effects and factors of student activists participation on movements and on their academic performance, particularly the researcher will collect the data needed from selected student activists around University Belt area, which includes selected students from Universities of Santo Tomas, Centro Escolar, San Beda, San Sebastian, Arrelano, Far Eastern.

Significance of the Study: The researcher hopes that the results of the study will provide significant information to the following: Student activists- that they may fully understand their roles as an individual in a particular setting. (e.g school, streets) Universities- that they may determine the factors that affect the academic performance of their students For Sociology as a discipline, that the students of sociology may fully define and understand the stigma being tagged on activists and understand the concepts given in sociology of deviancy. For future researchers and further studies.

Theoretical Framework: Symbolic Interactionism of George Herbert Mead (The Act) Social Role Volarizations Theory of Wolfensberger Basis of the Theories that will be applied to the study:
Macro Factors (opportunity, structures, etc.)

Protest event/social movement

2a Micro Factors (incentives, Protest/ Frames, etc. ) 2b Pre-existing events Individual mobilizing activities

The basic structure of theories of social movements and protest (Opp, 2009)

Theory of Rational Action/ Collective Action

The theory of collective action is one of the theoretical perspectives in the field of social movements and protest. It is based on Oslons seminal work (Olson 1965 as cited in Opp 2009). This perspective is the only one that uses explicitly rational choice theory (RCT) to generate hypotheses that explain specific social phenomena. In this theory the preferences of individual actors (student activists) are conditions for their behavior. In other words, individual behavior is goal-oriented or, put differently, an individuals interests are a determinant of his or her behavior. The next proposition reads that the behavior depends on the constraints or, equivalently, behavioral opportunities the individual is faced with. Constraints are any phenomena that impede the individuals goal attainment, whereas opportunities are any phenomena that promote the individuals goal attainment. The theory of dissonance and balance are theories deduced from the rational action theory. This theory are focusing in the relations between cognitive elements which are constituents of a mental model or, equivalently, cognitive structure. Since the subject of the study is focused on the academic performance of activists and non- activists students, the theory of dissonance and balance are suited for the validation of the data that will be gathered in the latter part of this study. The theories state conditions specifying when which types of changes are likely. Olson assumes that individuals are rational and self-interested. Rational as defined by Oslon, means that individuals behavior is governed by its costs and benefits and that individuals do what is best for them. In other words, individuals maximize their utility. The theory of collective action is concerned with a collectivity of individual actors who have a common interest (Oslon 1965 as cited by Opp 2009). Olson defines this term in the following way:

A common, collective, or public good is here defined as any good such that, if any person Xi in a group X1,Xi...,Xn consumes it, it cannot feasibly be withheld from others in that group. The researcher will try to associate and link the interconnections of concepts found in this study. However, the theories that will be used will serve as guide and validate the concepts that will be gathered throughout the study.

Conceptual Framework:

Mobilizations, Students, Academic Performance, University Belt

STUDENT ACTIVIST S

Movement Participati on

P E R F O R M A N C

Academi cs

CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES To the Filipino youth whose passion for reforms was a constant source of inspiration This research tackles about the issues and effects of youth activism among students who are involved in mobilizations and the like. This chapter seeks to answer the following questions which will be used in the whole research. What were the motivations, similarities of demands and patterns of strategies perceivable in the demonstrations in mobilizations involving the Filipino youth. This will also tackles about the historical roots of student activism in the Philippines. Motivations. There is indicated an intensification of interests and participation in matters political. Students seem to have taken the stand that Filipinos themselves are mainly, if not solely, responsible in the task of nation building. This responsibility extends to both the internal and external affairs of the country. (Santiago, 1972) According to the conducted study of Santiago, the findings tend to indicate an increasing sensitivity on the part of the students in matters that affect basic human dignity and rights, and a tendency to be outraged by practices that violate these. Students are likewise concerned with conditions that directly affect their lives as students. This growing concern is particularly perceivable in demonstrations during the 60s. There are evidences that tend to indicate that students can be made instruments in causes the

responsibility of which normally, legitimately and ethically belongs to other quarters. Student demonstrations have demanded from government authorities, for instance, the release of funds for state colleges and universities, for school buildings, for the operation of government hospitals- a task that logically should be done by school or hospital administrators. There are indications that students are not immune to suggestions or influences from people or groups who stand to benefit one way or another from the direction that students movements take. The demonstrations protesting against harassment or withdrawal of confidence in some public officials, seeking the release of unprogrammed appropriations and funds for retirees, bewailing the interference of the Iglesia ni Cristo groups in politics, asking the appointment or recall of the appointments of government officials, endorsing the candidacy of some political candidates, and the lobbying of some professors and students for the status quo of Republic Act No. 1881 despite numerous demonstrations for its repeal, support the belief that certain classified information must have been made available to the students by parties who were privy to these matters or those who directly stood to be benefited. Some demonstrations that were intended for the discussion of a specific issue became multi-issue rallies. This can be taken to indicate that students can get carried away beyond their original imaginations. Some student demonstrations in school campuses in the Philippines seem to have been inspired by the successes of other demonstrations. The youth in general do not show any kind of ideological orientations. Their demonstrations were spontaneous reactions in certain issues. There are few leaders who seem to have long-standing and sustained interest in student demonstrations and organizations. They started as student leaders then became known advisers of student organizations or still actively involve themselves in demonstrations. Some student leaders have been student for years.

History. After the despotic Queen Isabela II of Spain was overthrown by Generals Primo and Serrano in 1868, a more liberal Governor General, Carlos Maria dela Torre, was assigned to the Philipines on June 23, 1869. De la Tores grant of freedom of speech and of the press to Filipinos encouraged them to aspire for reforms. It was during the term of Governor General De la Torre that the first known nationalist student movement in the Philippines was organized by group of Filipino students of the University of Santo Tomas. The society was called Juventud Escolar Liberal (Young Liberal Students) to whom Dr. Jose P. Rizal dedicated his famous poem A La Juventud Filipina (To the Filipino Youth). Felipe Buencamino, Sr. was the societys president. Some of the active members were Paciano Rizal, Gregorio Mapa, Manuel de Leon, Gregorio Sanciangco, Ramon Soriano, Hermogenes del Rosario, and Pablo Luciano. It was also during the administration of Governor dela Torre that Filipino student first began to discuss openly public issues of the day, voicing their praise or criticism on the state of affairs and administration of government in their country without fear of reprisal. (Santiago, 1972). The long-drawn campaign for reform succeeded immeasurably in rousing the Indios from lethargy and instilling to their political consciousness the Western-developed ideology of nationalism. The ilustrado reformists were strongly influenced by the nationalistic movements then sweeping Europe including Spain itself, and were generally carried away in their eloquence and articulateness by the vogue and provocative nationalistic ideas and emotions, particularly the emphasis on racial pride and common heritage. Stirred by hangover of early 19th century Romanticism, the reformists produced a body of nationalistic writings and works of art, as in the novels of Jose Rizal and Pedro Paterno, the speeches of Graciano Lopez Jaena, the essays of Marcelo H. Del Pilar; and in the epical art of Juan Luna, particularly his famous painting of the Blood Compact between Legazpi and sikatuna which portrayed the unspoiled glory of a Philippine pre-colonial

past, the free and daring spirit of pre-Spanish ancestors (reminiscent of Jean Jacques Rousseaus noble savage entering in to a social contract with the Spanish conquistadors) and the landscapes of Felix Resurrecion Hidalgo presenting the pristine and pastoral beauty of the Philippine countryside. (Sevilla, 1997) Movements. Filipino youth have frequently participated in events that have shaped national directions. The first youth organizations were established in the country during the American peaceful colonization period, with youth political parties formed during the 1930s and 1940s. A national student organization, Kabataang Makabayan (KM), was formed in 1964. During the turbulent decade of the 1960s, splinter groups for example the Malayang Pagkakaisa ng kabataang Pilipino (MPKP) and the Samahan ng Demokratikong Kabataan (SDK) broke away from KM (NYC 1997b). Other more moderate youth groups also formed in the 1960s, predominantly along religious lines. Such moderate groups campaigned on issues such as reducing the voting age to 18 years and provision of a Magna Carta of Students Rights. Although considered moderate in their leanings, the students held parallel protests coinciding with those of peasants, workers and more radical students. In 1970 and 1971, radical and moderate organizations such as KM, SDK, the MPKP and the National Union of Students (NUS) launched protest activities against the Marcos regime in campuses and communities nationwide. Young intellectuals vowed solidarity with the impoverished Filipino masses, some pursuing the revolutionary path being waged in the countryside by the Communist Party of the Philippines (CCP). In the South, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), led by a young Muslim intellectual, challenged the highly centralist administration. By 1972, President Marcos declared martial law and the burgeoning peoples movement were suppressed. Soon after the military crackdown many student activists went

abroad or underground, with a long period of silence in the communities and campuses. Through the Marcos Administration, one generation of young politicians was bypassed, owing to the absence of democratic elections. In 1975, the President issued a decree creating the Kabataang Barangay (KB), which became the governments youth arm. This organization failed to develop youth as a democratic force so many other cause-oriented youth groups emerged. Youth action in the 1980s saw student groups rally around the issue of academic freedom. When martial law was lifted, student groups were involved in a series of negotiations with education and defense officials, calling for academic freedom and for recalling military detachments from school premises. In order to coordinate the action of various groups and student councils, the Student Leaders Forum (SLF) was established in 1983. Other militant and moderate groups also formed after martial law was lifted. After the people power revolt in 1986, militant student activism was reduced. Youth became more involved in the affairs of government, shifting their focus to work from the inside. Many people-power inspired youth groups formed, such as Laka ng Sambayanan, Lasak ng kabataang Pilipino (LKP), Volunteers for Popular Democracy, and Movement for the Advancement of Student Power (MASP) (NYC 1997b). In June 1986, a government-sponsored KB study group recommended that the KB be abolished and replaced with a national youth commission. They also recommended the establishment of a national youth assembly, confederation of youth organizations and youth representation in the government. In response, the government abolished the KB National Secretariat and organized national youth consultations. A meeting in 1997 brought together some 400 youth leaders who drew up 42 resolutions covering issues such as students rights, education, land reform, tuition fees, womens issues, human rights, US military bases and peace. The delegates also reaffirmed the recommendations made earlier by the KB study group. The

Aquino Administration established the Presidential Council for Youth Affairs (PCYA), which had much more limited powers and functions than the youth commission that students had envisaged. The representation of youth in Congress between 1988 and 1990 contributed to the introduction of the 1991 Local Government Code (LGC) that outlined the election process for barangay SK representatives.

It was not until enactment of Republic Act 8044, the Youth in National Building Act of 1995, that a legislative framework was introduced to promote youth welfare and development. The Youth in Nation Building Act mandated the establishment of the National Youth Commission (NYC), To serve as the governments direct link to youth in terms of policy and programme formulation and implementation. Filipino youth have been quite successful in lobbying for a greater political voice, despite the fragmentation that exists among various youth organizations. Coalition building is required now that mechanisms and structures have been put in place so that increased participation of Filipino youth in socio-political life can be facilitated.

Social Class and Protest. In the late 1960s, the class composition of the student movements was abundantly clear: participation was concentrated in the upper-middle classes. Movement activists have been shown to come predominantly from upper-middle class backgrounds and to have higher level education than non participants (Braungart 1972; Fendrich & Krauss 1978; Learly & Mazur 1978 as cited in Sherkat and Blocket 1994)

Chapter 3 METHODOLOGY 3.1 INTRODUCTION In this chapter the research methodology used in the study is described. The geographical area or the locale of the study, the study design and the population and sample are described. The instrument and procedure used to collect the data are also described. 3.2 RESEARCH DESIGN A qualitative comparative approach will be followed in this study. According to Creswell (2002), qualitative approach is largely an investigative process where the researcher gradually makes sense of a social phenomenon by contrasting, comparing, replicating, cataloguing and classifying the object of the study. Marshall and Rossman (1989 as cited in Creswell (2002) suggest that this entails immersion in the everyday life of the setting chosen for the study; the researcher enters the informants world and through ongoing interaction, seeks the informants perspectives and meanings. The study will use the comparative research design procedure. 3.3 DATA GATHERING PROCEDURE Locale of the Study The study will be done in the premise of University Belt, on the Universities of Santo Tomas, Centro Escolar, San Beda, San Sebastian, Arrelano, Far Eastern. Sample The researcher will use purposive sampling for the study. Selected students from the said University will be part of the Sample.

Data Gathering Instruments The researcher will be used as the primary instrument in the data gathering. In ethnographic design, the focus of the study according to Creswell (2002), are the everyday experiences and events of the student activists. REFERENCES Associated Content. (2006, September 28). Retrieved April 19, 2009, from Associated Content: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/66886/youth_activism_the_urban_filipino_psy che.html?cat=9 Damo-Santiago, C. (1972). A Century of Activism. Manila: Rex Book Store. Goldstein, K. & Ridout, T. (2002). The Politics of Participation: Mobilization and Turnout over Time. Political Behavior; Mar2002, Vol. 24 Issue 1, p3-29, 27p. Retrieved August 15, 2009, from Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection database Larson, R., & Hansen, D. (2005, November). The Development of Strategic Thinking: Learning to Impact Human Systems in a Youth Activism Program. Human Development (0018716X), 48(6), 327-349. Retrieved August 15, 2009, doi:10.1159/00008825 Opp, K.D (2009). Theories of Political Protest and Social Movements: A Multidisciplinary Introduction, Critique, and Synthesis. Retrieved last August 10, 2009 from: http://www.routledgepolitics.com/books/Theories-of-Political-Protest-and-SocialMovements-isbn9780415483896 Theories of Political Prot est and Social Movements Schlumpp, Heidi (Sept. 2001). Activism 101: US Catholic v. 66 no. 9 pp. 32-37 Sevilla, F. (1997). Poet of the People Francisco Balagtas and the Roots of Filipino Nationalism. Manila: Trademark Publishing Corporation. Sherkat, D., & Blocker, T. (1994, March). The Political Development of Sixties' Activists: Identifying the Influence of Class, Gender, and Socialization on Protest Participation. Social Forces, 72(3), 821-842. Retrieved August 15, 2009, from Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection database. Taliping, M. J (1997-1998). Political Climate and Student Activism in Selected Private Tertiary Institutions in Baguio City: Baguio Colleges Foundation.

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