Carlos Bulosan and a Collective Outline for Critical Filipina and Filipino Studies

Abstract

As an activist-scholar formation called the Critical Filipina and Filipino StudiesCollective (CFFSC) we take the position that Carlos Bulosan is indispensable foran emerging multidisciplinary field that is equipped in defying the neoliberalonslaught against ethnic studies in the United States and the unbridled racismmost evident in the ongoing US “wars of terrorism” that haunt people of colorthroughout the world. We take seriously Bulosan’s insight that “[I]f the writer hasany significance, [s]he should write about the world in which [s]he lives: interprethis [her] time and envision the future through his [her] knowledge of historicalreality” (On Becoming Filipino 43). While Bulosan for our times can be taken upin an assortment of ways, for the purpose of this article we draw upon Bulosan’swriting and praxis to conceptualize an outline for CFFS that can offer groundedanalysis and academic critique.