The Southeast Asian Games and the Mediation of Philippine Cultures and Identities

This thesis analyses the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, a regional sport mega-event participated in by eleven countries in Southeast Asia, and its function as a platform for the mediation of Philippines cultures and identities. Through a qualitative approach, this research finds that the country harnessed various features, stages, and social actors of the SEA Games to express its natural heritage, histories, cultural artefacts and practices, positive traits and values, and Filipino pride. The SEA Games also functioned as a platform through which societal tensions and structural realities of Filipinos and the Philippine society are conveyed.