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Transnationalism and Filipino American Historiography
Augusto Espiritu
Journal of Asian American Studies, Volume 11, Number 2, June
2008, pp. 171-184 (Article)
Published by The Johns Hopkins University Press
DOI: 10.1353/jaas.0.0005
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TRANSNATIONALISM
AND FILIPINO AMERICAN
HISTORIOGRAPHY
augusto espiritu
I
N THE LAST FEW YEARS
,
FILIPINO AMERICAN
historical studies seems to have
emerged, propelled by the growing influence of post-colonial, Empire,
and transnational studies upon this subfield.
1
Indeed, there has been a
great deal of talk about such influences. My own personal predilections
are exactly in that direction, although I am careful that the field does
not lose sight of the racial, multicultural, and social conditions from
which “Asian American” history emerged. Indeed, this paper shows that
it is perhaps premature to ascertain the direction the field has taken
and that the labels “transnational” and “post-colonial” might have been
applied a little too hastily to Filipino American historical works. Indeed,
it is clear from the foregoing examination that though most historians
of Filipino Americans are mindful of such developments, not everyone
has adopted these paradigms. Many are continuing to draw from more
traditional approaches to race, gender, and class in the American context.
I argue that this is not necessarily a disadvantage so long as there is an
evolving dialogue, exchange, and understanding between “old” and “new”
methodologies that fosters intellectual growth.
For a long time, professional historians of Filipino America were few
and far between. Without counting the works of Ronald Takaki, Sucheng
Chan, and other “generalists,”
2
the only professionally trained historian
in the field was Barbara Posadas of Northern Illinois University, whose
JAAS JUNE
2008
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171–184
©
THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY PRESS

172 • JAAS • 11:2
landmark studies of Filipino labor, immigration, student life, cross-ra-
cial sex, and mixed race in Chicago paved the way for many of us future
historians.
3
Posadas has not yet gathered these essays, published in vari-
ous journals, into book form. Particularly in her studies of pensionados ,
students sponsored by the colonial government, it is clear that Posadas
was aware of the importance of transnationality and did her research in
both U.S. as well as Philippine archives, especially in English-language
sources. Nonetheless, Posadas’s work is concerned with explicating the
emergence of Filipino American identity, and as such, her approach was
typical of social historians who utilized a race, class, and gender analysis
and generally saw Philippine developments in light of U.S. labor and im-
migration history.