International Studies Review Vol. 14 No.1

Civil Society Fragmentation and Agrarian Reform:
Focus on CARPER in the Philippines

MARK STEVENSON CURRY

Civil society fragmentation may have significant implications
for rural development initiatives, such as agrarian
reform program implementation. This paper assesses
the issue by looking at civil society participation and
cleavages in the enactment of the 2009 Comprehensive
Agrarian Reform Program Extension with Reforms
(CARPER) in the Philippines. CARPER was promoted
by a coalition of social and political movements, including
the Catholic Church and peasant and farmer groups
aligned with centre-left political organizations. It was
however opposed by two discordant groups: the leftist
national democratic bloc of people’s organizations and
legislators, and conservative landlords. A Gramscian framework
is adapted to describe the hegemonic relations
affecting three engaged organizations from the civil society
spectrum and to assess potential convergences
among them.

Keywords: Civil Society Fragmentation, Participation in
Development, Hegemony, Agrarian Reform,
CARPER