I’m sharing with you one of my chapters for my dissertation. In this chapter, we dive deeper into the influencer culture and situate it in the Philippines, a country who has had a long history of patronage politics and where celebrities become politicians and vice versa. First, we look into the history of the Philippines’ democracy and civil society, which would help us understand how the country has come to elect certain types of leaders throughout its history, from its colonisation to becoming an independent country. We then look into the country’s history of mass media, which has played a crucial role in politics. The next section looks into Duterte’s rise to power, the culture of patronage politics and clientelism in Philippine politics, celebrity politics, and how influencers have been used in electoral campaigns and political propaganda in the last few years. This chapter hopes to give a historical, political, and cultural overview of the Philippines to better understand how a politician like Duterte can rise to power with the help of social media influencers.
Download the chapter and references here:
Renee Karunungan 