Abstract
Based on my own experiences of committed anthropological fieldwork among the Ayta of western Luzon and the Ifugao of northern Luzon, both in the Philippines, I propose the idea of an “anthropology of response-ability.” After the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo - the biggest eruption in the 20th century -- in western Luzon in 1991, I engaged in rehabilitation works and projects through a small Japanese NGO (Asia Volunteer Network) that was working for Ayta eruption victims. The Ayta are Asian-type Negritos living in and around the Mt. Pinatubo area with whom I lived for twenty months in the late 1970s for my Ph.D. research. During ten years of committed engagement through NGOs and aid agencies since the eruption, I came to recognize that anthropology and anthropologists could and should contribute much more to urgent issues and problems for mitigation and alleviation. An “anthropology of response-ability” is a type of public anthropology, but the focus of concern is much more on field-site issues tackled through collaboration with local people beyond national borders rather than on issues and problems in our home countries.
