Cherry-Picking Tradition and Selective Modernisation: The Insurgency of the Indigenous Cordillerans of the Philippines

ABSTRACT Conventional peacebuilding literature posits strong state capacity or empowerment of local knowledge as potential mechanisms for conflict resolution. Using process-tracing and ethnography, I show that an alternate pathway to peace lies in a dialectical approach by examining the armed conflict between indigenous Igorot communities against the Philippine state. When indigenous peoples strategically modernise by ‘cherry-picking’ and adapting traditions, they create opportunities to manoeuvre around and access state power. Exploiting the state’s own preconceived notions of indigeneity, Igorot communities defined the terms of their autonomy. This study introduces the understanding that statebuilding and indigenisation as hybrid processes for peacebuilding.