I'm not sure that a true civil society can be "built" from the top down, either by external or internal actors. If it's built that way it's going to represent the interests of those who built it, and will probably be rejected by those on the receiving end. A functioning civil society has to grow from the bottom up, not be installed from the top.
I'd also not totally discount the ability of the tribal folks, literate or not, to manage their own affairs, and to know and pursue their own interests. They may not be literate, but they aren't stupid, and those who would govern them, whether foreign or domestic, would be well advised to lecture them less and listen to them more.
I wouldn't say literacy is unimportant, but I'm not sure what we can do about it. Afghans will seek literacy as it becomes more important to them, and as affairs stabilize to a point that allows them to develop a system of education that suits their own needs.
Astutely observed. The Kankanaey in general, the northern Kankanaey specifically, and most particularly my neighbors and in-laws in Sagada, Besao, and Bontoc are widely seen by the other tribes in the area as being a bit on the pushy and domineering side, inclined to impose their views as those of all, to hog leadership positions and funding, and having a habit of getting their way. From a slightly neutral position I admit that these observations are not entirely without substance. My neighbors and in-laws would respond that they merely receive that to which their (undoubtedly) superior levels of education and organization and their (remarkable, if not always entirely admirable) ability to manipulate outsiders entitles them. On these matters I typically remain silent, for the sake of domestic peace.
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