The Prevailing Culture of Anti-Intellectualism and its Impact on Student Engagement in Political Activism: A Study About Grade 12 Student Journalists

Chapter I: The Problem and its Background

1. Rationale

As said by Richard Hofstadter (1963) in his book “Anti-Intellectualism in American Life”, the term Anti-Intellectualism is the rejection of facts and sought-out information from intellectuals as well as having an anti-elite mentality because anti-intellectualists think that having intellect on topics (i.e. business, politics, religion, and education) is a form of authority or a waste of time. This mentality has been intertwined into American culture and it has been a hardship among intellectuals to get the people to cite and learn new things rationally without bias. Historically, the birth of Anti-intellectualism started with the Euro colonists going to America, which would bring Puritan evangelical beliefs to the land making it the highest form of authority and rule. Anti-intellectualism has been prevalent and deeply embedded into Philippine culture and history from way back during the Spanish rule. The book “Orientalists, Propagandists and Ilustrados” by Megan C. Thomas tells how a group of educated Filipinos called Ilustrados reformed the Philippines during the times of colonization and how the Filipinos have submitted themselves to the colonizer’s traditions, giving up their sense of autonomy and freedom. Then proceeding to the American colonization and their pursuits of modernizing Philippine society using the means of education, said by Reynaldo Ileto's 'Orientalism in the Study of Philippine Politics' (1999), that would later on affect the Filipinos to avoid critical thinking and serve Americans interests.

 A well-known scenario related to the topic of the Martial Law of 1972 where activists and intellectuals would protest against the government on the dilemmas of the nation only to be punished or worse, killed. The event has shaped the minds of many Filipino citizens that thinking critically would end up with them getting into trouble with the government. Another scenario would be 34th US President Dwight Eisenhower and his time of presidency at Columbia University where he was criticized by scholars as an anti-intellectual, even by Hofstadter himself, all by calling intellectuals “men who tell more than they know”. Or Former US president Donald Trump’s response to the COVID pandemic blaming China,“The world is now suffering as a result of the malfeasance of the Chinese government,” Mr. Trump said in his speech. “Countless lives have been taken, and profound economic hardship has been inflicted all around the globe.” The Former President blamed China for having "instigated a global pandemic" accusing the country that they and the World Health Organization have banded together to hide the dangers of the pandemic during 2020 even if there is no valid evidence. During his 10-minute speech, denying any liability for the virus's 100,000 American deaths. This illustrates how Trump is only attempting to politicize the pandemic in order to win over his constituents. Furthermore, this implies that Anti-Intellectualism can be used as a tactic for those in authority to communicate with conservative followers or pull more people in and convince them of their way of thinking for the benefit of more control; hindering intellectuals and academics from teaching people that there is no harm when it comes to learning, except when the information at hand is biased and deceptive.

We draw upon the insights of Aimee Howley, Edwina D. Pendarvis, and Craig B. Howley from their study in May 1993. They contend that schools should not only focus on fostering intellectual understanding but also strive to enhance the social justice system. The authors advocate for a broadening of the foundational principles of educational institutions to promote intellectualism suggesting that they should expand the founding principles of schools to elevate intellectuals. The study of  Dr Rafik Z. Elias (2008) examines the impact of anti-intellectualism attitudes and academic self-efficacy on business students' perceptions of cheating. It highlights the importance of addressing these psychological variables to reduce cheating perceptions among students. However, it doesn't directly discuss engagement in political activism. McDevitt’s (2020) study argues that journalism fosters the deterioration of democracy by aligning with anti-elitist sentiments. Parks et al. (2017) investigate how emerging adults’ attitudes towards news and authority are shaped by this journalistic anti-intellectual. It shows that students' and emerging adults' perceptions are built by the prevailing anti-intellectualist mindset and why most refrain from engaging in political endeavors. These studies provide a comprehensive view of anti-intellectualism across different contexts however it does leave behind the opportunity to evaluate secondary education illustrating that these studies are mainly focused on higher education.

In contrast to the ideas of anti-intellectualism, Republic Act No. 8044, the Youth in Nation-Building Act, is primarily intended to support young people's intellectual, moral, and social growth. Through organizations like the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK), the legislation promotes youth participation in governance and cultivates a culture of critical thinking, civic engagement, and responsible leadership. Engaging in active participation is crucial in the fight against anti-intellectualism because it recognizes and capitalizes on the intellectual contributions made by youth to the advancement of the country and the betterment of the community. The act promotes the growth of an informed and intellectually lively society that is in opposition to the contemptuous views of anti-intellectualism by giving young people the ability to participate in decision-making processes.

RRL

Anti-intellectualism

The term "anti-intellectualism" refers to a dislike and suspicion of intelligence, intellectuals, and intellectualism. It is often used to condemn education and philosophy as well as to disregard art, literature, and science and label them as unwise, politically driven, or even disgusting human endeavors. Many college students lack intellectual life and are preoccupied with superficial aspects of life. This lack of critical thinking is not encouraging for higher education (Trout, 2018). Anti-intellectualism, a complex combination of ideas and attitudes, has been a concern in American society for 58 years. Higher education has focused on addressing this issue through education, economic, and cultural advances. However, the focus has shifted to counteracting the more aggressive form of anti-rationalism that defines the post-truth world (Thompson, 2022). Anti-intellectualism can lead to the devaluation of intellectual pursuits and critical thinking, potentially making society less informed and more susceptible to manipulation (Mulder, 2016). Michael L. Peters' article "Anti-intellectualism is a virus" highlights its potential to devalue intellectual pursuits, reduce self-esteem, and promote superficial learning over meaningful engagement with academic material. 

These literatures correlate with one another as they revolve around one keyword, which in this case is anti-intellectualism. The existence of anti-intellectualism in higher education and its status are the ones being mentioned in Trout’s and Thompson’s work. Both pieces of literature focus on anti-intellectualism in college in different settings but with a similar approach. What distinguishes them from each other is that one addresses the causes and the other looks for an intervention. Meanwhile, Mulder and Michael’s works focus on how people tend to distract themselves in order to avoid the existence of a problem called anti-intellectualism. The two literatures both mention anti-intellectualism as a virus that deteriorates people's lives by using it as an excuse. The differences between these two literary texts are that the latter focuses on the causes while the former focuses on the effects. These texts are highly related to our study due to the center of attention in these literatures being the origins and influences of anti-intellectualism. 

Students perception

The issue of anti-intellectualism in higher education is a pressing concern, as it hinders students' ability to improve their performance and understanding of historical studies (Trout, 2018). Students' perceptions of the history of ideas are crucial, as they can be significantly altered by educational interventions (Salzberger, 2001). One main cause of anti-intellectualism is the harm schools do to their students by preventing them from thinking critically (Mulder, 2016). Early adoption of English in the Philippines results in a perpetual state of uncertainty, leading to students making jokes about their limited knowledge (Michael, 2018). Anti-intellectualism is often attributed to a virus written by Michael L. Peters and Herbert Marcuse, who inspired students with their book One-Dimensional Man. Intellectual history students should pay attention to both current and non-relevant ideas, as well as works with a wide array of references and meaning-making possibilities (Thomas, 2012). 

These literatures correspond with one another due to their statements about how students perceive anti-intellectualism in different contexts. Trout and Salzberger focused their work on how some students view higher education as insignificant, which stems from the influence of anti-intellectualism on their perception. Meanwhile, Mulder focused on the fact that some higher education is lacking, making them the cause of the rising anti-intellectualism attitude among students. Michael and Thomas engaged in the causes and effects of anti-intellectualism on the perception of students towards education, mainly higher education. These literary texts all revolve around the discussion about students' perceptions of anti-intellectualism or students' perceptions of being influenced by anti-intellectualism, therefore making these literatures related to our current study.

Political Activism

Middle-class unhappiness with modern conditions can be expressed through religiously tinted ways of life and calls for political reform (Mulder, 2016). To preserve their moral standing, they should distance themselves from corrupt governments. The Iglesia ni Cristo's leadership, skilled in political bargaining, chooses candidates without devoting themselves to real politics. Featherstone, Doug Henwood, and Parenti (2004) explore the ideology of the activist left, coining the term 'Activismism'. This ideology combines the political illiteracy of hypermediated American culture with the moral zeal of a 19th-century temperance crusade, leading to more activism and virtuous individuals (Michael, 2018). 

The literary works by Mulder and Michael pointed out the reasons and results of political activism, mainly focusing on how it came to be or why it is being done in a certain setting. Both of these literatures mentioned acts of activism throughout the years which in some cases, has caused the movement of people away from corrupt governments. Mulder’s work mentions some faults within the people’s political choices which lead to the rest of the rational ones to start a political reform. Meanwhile, Michael’s written work focused on discussing the reason for and how the term ‘activism’ came to be. These two pieces of literature mention how illiteracy makes way for poor political choices and how those who have left the anti-intellectualism mindset are set to become activists and start political activism, which relates to our current study which also possesses political activism as one of its main focuses. 

RRL Synthesis

These literatures suggest that students’ perception towards politics and other contemporary issues experiences a decline due to the prevalent anti-intellectualism acts around them. As stated in these literary works, anti-intellectualism is mostly abundant in higher education but also present in students in general. These literatures commonly revolves around the people who possess anti-intellectualist attitudes and how these people affect the intellectual individuals’ perception towards societal issues and governmental talks. These literatures also focused on how people who do acts of anti-intellectualism often view higher education as insignificant or irrelevant. Additionally, it was mentioned in these texts that activism came upon the resistance of irrational political choices which is usually caused by anti-intellectual behaviors. These literary texts proposed that a better system of education would prevent or reduce cases of anti-intellectualism in an academic setting.

RRS

Anti-intellectualism

The study conducted by McDevitt (2020) argues that journalism contributes to the deterioration of democracy by representing grievances and gaining from the anti-elitist movement. It highlights the media's vulnerability to illiberal feelings due to its inability to grow as an intellectual enterprise. The press is rife with populist anti-elitism, anti-rationalism, and other anti-intellectualist threads that agitate democratic conflicts and encourage further deterioration. The study investigates how emerging adults' attitudes about news, audiences, and authority are influenced by support for journalistic anti-intellectualism (Parks et al., 2017). It also examines how academic self-efficacy and anti-intellectualism affect business students' perceptions of cheating (Elias, 2008). Anti-intellectualism was a significant factor affecting Eisenhower's time as Columbia University president, leading to conflicts with academic ideals and a faculty uprising (Eisenhower et al., 2017).

These studies evaluate the presence of anti-intellectualism in multiple different settings, mentioning the main contributors of the deterioration of intellectualism. McDevitt and Park's studies both focus on the abundant anti-elitism mindset among the press and media which is the leading cause of the decline of democracy among movements.  The effects of anti-intellectualism towards small figures such as students and big figures such as presidents have also been mentioned in the studies conducted by Elias and Eisenhower which lead to an unpleasant mindset causing poor choices made by the affected individuals. These studies’ focus on anti-intellectualism relates to one of the main focuses of our research which addresses anti-intellectualism among students. 

Students perception 

College students often accept journalistic anti-rationalism and anti-elitism when identifying with professional jobs. This anti-intellectualism is influenced by role identities and is linked to a populist mistrust of academics and their ideas (Mota, 2017). Research by McDevitt, Parks, et al. (2017) suggests that students' perceptions of their intelligence are related to their major choices. The study by Elias (2008) investigates how business students' views of academic dishonesty in college are influenced by their attitudes toward intellectual pursuits and confidence in their academic talents. This has shed light on Eisenhower's (2017) use of education to further anti-communist goals and sparked debates about academic freedom and limitations on free speech during the Cold War. The study by Samonte (1970) disagrees with John A. Lepper's claim that young Filipinos have been politically active in the struggle against Spain and the US, stating that activism in the Philippines after WWII is fragmented and lacks the intensity and violence seen in other countries.

These studies revolve around the investigation of students’ perceptions influenced by anti-intellectualism and their perception towards it. In the study by Mota, it is stated that the anti-intellectualism attitude that the students possess roots from their mistrust of academics and its ideas, which is similar to how the study, conducted by Elias, states that students’ academic dishonesty is caused by their attitude towards intellectual and academic pursuits. Meanwhile, Eisenhower and Samonte focused on the perception of students towards education and politics with the presence of anti-intellectualism. As these studies discuss the perception of students, this relates to one of the main purposes of our research which aims to identify students’ perceptions.

Political activism

The range of unpaid, volunteer actions carried out by citizens with the primary goal of influencing choices and results at any level of the political system is referred to as "political activism” (Nygård et al., 2015). Because of their unfavorable opinions of intellectualism, few students engage in political activity here. It's unclear given the information they are exposed to if the perceptions of these students can be changed. (Mota, 2017). When analyzing student activism in the Philippines, as stated in the study by Samonte (1970), two issues need to be asked: first, why did Filipino students show relative inactivity in the post-World War II era compared to students throughout the rest of the world? and second, what seems to be the motivation behind the nation's student body's growing militant nature throughout the previous five years?

These two studies are centered around the reasons why people, mainly students, do not often engage in political activism, and further questioning of why there exists student activists in the Philippines. The study done by Mota focused on why there are little to no student activists in certain areas around the Philippines. It also questions the perception of these Filipino students and whether these can be altered or not, much like the study conducted by Samonte, which inquires about student activism in the Philippines. However, Samonte’s study is focused more on the students who are actually engaging in political activity and not those who are stagnant due to their anti-intellectualism attitude. As these studies discuss political activism among students, our research is related to these studies as one of our investigation’s main objectives is political activism among students.

RRS Synthesis

These Studies are centered around journalistic anti-intellectualism and the lack of student activists due to anti-rationalism. McDevitt’s (2020) study argues that journalism fosters the deterioration of democracy by aligning with anti-elitist sentiments. Parks et al. (2017) investigate how emerging adults’ attitudes towards news and authority are shaped by this journalistic anti-intellectual. It shows that students' and emerging adults' perceptions are built by the prevailing anti-intellectualist mindset and why most refrain from engaging in political endeavors. These studies provide a comprehensive view of anti-intellectualism across different contexts however it does leave behind the opportunity to evaluate secondary education illustrating that these studies are mainly focused on higher education.