Book of Abstracts: July 2013 Paliwanagan sa UP Diliman July 2013 | Page 22

Kababaihang Manggagawa sa Bahay, her doctoral dissertation published by the
UP Press; and Renato Constantino: A Life Revisited, published by the Foundation
for Nationalist Studies. Her volunteer international extension work as Regional
Coordinator of Homenet Southeast Asia is focused on empowering women in the
informal economy.
About the College of Social Work and Community Development
Initiated as a Social Welfare Section within the Department of Sociology and
Social Welfare in 1950 in the then College of Liberal Arts, the present College of
Social Work and Community Development (CSWCD) became a separate Department
of Social Work by 1961 and evolved into the Institute of Social Work and Community
Development in 1969 through RA 5174 which was passed in 1967. Its
reclassification as a full-fledged college was prompted by the University’s move
to standardize the nomenclature of academic units performing similar functions.
The CSWCD offers graduate and undergraduate programs in both social work
and community development, as well as graduate programs on women and
development.
CSWCD’s development praxis is anchored on people’s participation and
empowerment, personal and social transformation, solidarity with marginalized
groups, and gender-responsiveness. Its pursuit of academic excellence rests on
integration of theory and practice, and is infused with passionate scholarship,
critical thinking, innovativeness and creativity. (Source: http://cswcd.upd.edu.ph/
?page_id=2)

numbers of households sending out Filipino contract workers. The UP School of
Economics is doing extensive statistical analysis of the firms’ activities.
This presentation will focus on the role of the UP College of Social Sciences and
Philosophy (CSSP), which is to look at the more qualitative aspects of economic
growth and the middle income country trap if it does exist. CSSP researchers will
rely mainly on narratives or “stories” from key people in the firms, households and
communities to look at people’s experiences and perceptions of economic
development and how these are situated in peoples’ daily lives, spaces and
places. The team’s perspective is to look at how people strategize (“diskarte” in
Filipino) to meet the challenges of development, both in terms of competitiveness
as well as inclusiveness.
About the Presenter
Dr. Michael L. Tan is a professor of anthropology and current Dean of the College
of Social Sciences and Philosophy (CSSP). He is also an affiliate faculty with the
Tri-College Philippine Studies program, the Science, Technology and Society
program of the College of Science, and a Clinical Professor with the UP College of
Medicine. He is a firm believer in the crossing of disciplinary boundaries for
teaching, research and extension. Currently he is involved with several research
projects, the two major ones being “Escaping the Middle Income Trap” (UP CSSP,
UP School of Economics and Erasmus University) and “Young Adults’ Gendered
Use of Medicines and other Substances in the Philippines, Indonesia, Netherlands
and France” (UP and University of Amsterdam).
About the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy

ESCAPING THE MIDDLE INCOME COUNTRY TRAP (MICT):
GOING BEYOND THE STATISTICS
Michael L. Tan
There are increasing concerns about countries such as the Philippines being
caught in a middle income country trap, which means being unable to move on to
high-income status. These fears are based on the country’s poor economic
performance over the last few decades, based on macroeconomic statistics.
In this project, which is a joint activity of the University of the Philippines and
Erasmus University in Rotterdam, researchers will be looking at Thailand and the
Philippines reviewing the trajectory of development over the last three decades.
The research site will be the Calabarzon area with its many economic activities:
the export processing zone, the business outsourcing companies, and the large

40 Paliwanagan sa UP Diliman

The history of the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy (CSSP) dates back
to the year 1910 although its name was given only in 1983. The CSSP began as
part of the College of Liberal Arts which was established in June 1910 by virtue
of a decision of the UP Board of Regents. Before the start of the first semester of
the academic year 1959-1960, the College of Liberal Arts was reorganized into
three academic units - the University College, the College of Arts and Sciences,
and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. All three units, however, were
served by only one faculty. On 26 October 1983, the UP Board of Regents issued
Administrative Order No.170 creating three new colleges from the former College
of Arts and Sciences — the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy (CSSP),
the College of Arts and Letters (CAL), and the College of Science (CS).
The social sciences and philosophy are the foundation of a relevant university
education. Students are encouraged to respond to the need for critical thought

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