Beyond Racial Divisions: Bridges and Intersections in the Spanish Colonial Philippines

Abstract

This article aims to explore some factors, moments, spaces, and people that acted as bridges and intersections between different population groups in Philippine colonial society during the final decades of the nineteenth century, in order to analyze the permeability of the borders that separated and classified the inhabitants of the Philippines. To this end, this study reviews the legal status according to which the population living in the Philippines was divided and the social structure that shaped Philippine society. It analyzes as well some collaborations and relationships established in the political scene, in the economic and professional world, and in daily life.

KEYWORDS: NINETEENTH-CENTURY PHILIPPINES • COLONIAL SOCIETY •SOCIAL INTERACTIONS • POPULATION GROUPS • RACIAL CATEGORIES