Promoting a Progressive Alternative in Non-revolutionary Times

My contribution will focus on the possibilities and constraints of the politics of reform in the Global South, using my experience as an academic, activist, and legislator in the Philippines as a case study.  The issues I will touch on will be, among others, the articulation of the vision of an alternative in a setting where both socialism and neoliberalism have been discredited, the challenge of mobilizing people for a progressive alternative in a non-revolutionary situation, the promises and perils of coalition politics with elite political parties, and the possibilities and problems in linking a progressive international agenda with a local reform agenda.  Among the questions my intervention will seek to answer are:  Where does the corruption and governance issue fit in a progressive agenda?  How does one promote structural reform in asset and income distribution in a period when people's movements are weak?  How does one link a local reform program to a strategic post-capitalist agenda? How does one promote a reformist foreign and global policy agenda that addresses climate change, the crisis of globalization, continuing interventionism on the part of the United States, an increasingly assertive China, and geopolitical rivalry between the United States and China.