During martial law in the Philippines (1972-1981), political opponents and other dissidents were often detained without charges. Though the Marcos government used this tactic as a means to silence opposition, political detainees still played a formative role in the anti-Marcos movement. Many participated in the formation of activist strategy and countless others produced a range of cultural work that helped spread the anti-Marcos cause.

This talk focuses on the material conditions of detainee cultural productions and their circulation during the Marcos period. While their works often explicitly advanced political lines related to martial law, detainee artistic production also allowed ways for political prisoners to share intimate details of their personal lives to those close to them and those potentially in solidarity with them. Their work provides insight into the ways that grassroots activists actively worked to bridge gaps of time and space, creating solidarity from afar and speaking to future generations from confined spaces such as the martial law prison cell.

Dr. Mark John Sanchez is currently a Lecturer in History & Literature at Harvard University, where he teaches courses on the Cold War, Migration & Labor, and Asian American Studies. He received a PhD in History and Asian American Studies from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Mark is at work on a monograph focusing on the making of a transnational opposition to the Marcos dictatorship in the Philippines.

Co-sponsored with Cornell Southeast Asia Program & @Cornell Filipino Association