On behalf of the Sociology and Anthropology Department and the History Department of the Ateneo de Manila, I stand before you with privilege and honor to host the public lecture of Datu Michael Mastura and the launching of his most recent book, I have been trained as an anthropologist, primarily working on, and drawing insights and materials from Mindanao and the broader Bangsamoro experience.
Engaging his works, however, is not always straightforward because of the many layers and the expanse of insights leaping from their pages. The depth of his points and mastery of the region as a scholarly subject are more compelling in ways that dispel assumptions and presumptions about the region and the Muslim experience.
I am not giving a review of the book, which is a job we left for another distinguished scholar, analysts, and development practitioner of Mindanao and other complex regions of the world. That is a task for Dr Steven Rood, whom I am giving my shoutout as a way of thanking him. , I marvel at the attention to details and its expansive coverage drawing from the knowledge tools of historiography, anthropology, politics, and sociology.