The social value of research

While finding a book on psychoanalysis and gender I noticed the new see-through windows of the FEU Main Library fronting Quezon Blvd. I peeked and saw the phalanx of dilapidated buildings and train of shanties along the parallel street. At its core I know the Bilibid Prison is located. Then I had a flashback of my best friend’s rant about the culture of academic research. To a certain extent, the truth she blurted is now a nagging thought.

For the past few years I have conducted some scholarly communication researches. Lately, the political economy of gender has been the central theme of my work. I have read several studies; some are very highfalutin, a sheer intellectual exercise. The sight of urban blight facing the grandiose façade of my University’s UNESCO-awarded building is a reminder of the yet unfulfilled role of research and probably by some academic institutions. It is a contrast that highlights the tendency of learning to stay in the ivory tower while a significant number of people grapple for help from the educated or those who can make use of what they learned for greater social benefit?

College graduates tend to use their university training for “personal” benefit alone. This is a natural reaction in a third world country. Majority of students had to depend on the financial support of their parents/sponsors who, in return, expect them to “repay” them by supporting the needs of the family. This payback period usually takes several years before graduates get that “financial stability and independence” (perhaps, a lifetime commitment for some) especially that the culture of close family ties is still deeply embedded.

I do not see anything wrong with helping the family. “Charity begins at home” is a universal principle. The charity usually transcends the parapets of the home only when the provider has enough to share. But what is enough? When is the best time to start embracing social responsibility?

In a documentary entitled Buto’t Balat by Kara David, the state of malnutrition in the Philippines is just two percent lesser than Sub-Saharan Africa. One Chinese student’s reaction after seeing a victim of chronic malnutrition was, “Let’s help her.” My Filipino students showed compassion and pity, a sort of “Oh my God” reaction. But I did not hear anyone say, “Let’s help her.”

It is ironic that we produce so many graduates, if not one of the world’s best minds, but our knowledge has not been translated to social benefit. The knowledge has not transcended its potential state. It is knowledge just for its sake, for personal growth. The sense of community is still lip service that has also developed apathy. There is still the mentality that public service is the primary duty of the government. This is true. But when some government officials siphon funds for personal gain, who else will help the poor?

The challenge for graduates, professionals, the academe, and all of us is to lock arms with non-profit, non-government organizations in support of advocacies on poverty alleviation. Research should also have topics along this line. For one, I have required “social value” as a major criterion in approving research topics. The post-structuralist, postmodernist perspectives that seem to be in vogue as a research current maybe intellectually stimulating. But what's next? At the end of the day, how we use what we know is more important.