Making Mindanao Cotabato and Davao in the Formation of the Philippine Nation-State

While not denying explanatory value to these arguments, this book rejects ethnicity and political economy as the dominant causes. Making Mindanao argues that colonial construction of the state and its subsequent transformation from the colonial to the post colonial period largely shaped Mindanao's political landscape. The book thus focuses on how local power was determined by state formation and how the state's ability to establish its authority was mediated by mutual accommodation between strong men who controlled this frontier zone. It compares Cotabato and Davao to show the process of state formation and the shaping of local power from the American period (1900-1941) to the eye of the declaration of martial law by Ferdinand Marcos (1946-1972).