ISANG BAGSAK!

“Isang bagsak!” cried a large circle of Pilipinos and Pilipino Americans. The students of the Pilipino community (Pil-community) at UC Berkeley often conclude their events with a unity clap ending in the Tagalog exclamation “Isang bagsak!” The translation means, “One down, one fall!” representing the solidarity of the group as they clap in unison. When one falls, the whole group falls. Similarly the group will rise together as well. The Pil-community possesses a strong solidarity stemming from not only the shared Pilipino identities of all eight Pilipino organizations (Pil-orgs) but also the complementary differences brought by each Pil-org to the Pil-community. The Pil-community represents Durkheim’s theory of solidarity comprising of both the mechanical and organic solidarity needed to govern the interests of this cultural and ethnic institution.

The Pil-community possesses Durkeheim’s idea of solidarity which is an unquestionable moral good that forms the collective consciousness of a healthy society(p.6). There are two types of solidarity that must coexist: mechanical and organic. Mechanical solidarity is when entities unite over a common interest, so they move together as one because of their similarities(p.22). The Pil-community believes that they are all treated the same way by the rest of society because of their ethnicity, so Pilipinos unite so that they are strong together instead of weak alone. In mechanical solidarity, “individual consciousness is simply a dependency of the collective type(p.84),” indicating that collective consciousness is greater than individual consciousness. For instance, every spring the Pil-community collectively campaigns and successfully elects a Pilipino Senator to ensure Pilipino representation in the ASUC. With each Pilipino voting for a communally chosen senator, individuals are not deciding his/her own vote; they are allowing the Pil-community to decide. Members of the Pil-community share a Pilipino identity but they each have their own different interests which the Pil-community accounts for as well.

The Pil-community is comprised of eight pil-orgs embodying Durkheim’s second form of solidarity: organic solidarity. Organic solidarity comes from the division of labor, where “each organ has its own special characteristics (p.85)” working dependent upon each other. Each pil-org represents a different function specializing in the many interests of the Pil-community. The eight functions of each organization are: 1)politics/culture, 2)business/law, 3)science/engineer, 4)health, 5)arts, 6)womyn’s(women’s) rights, 7)religion/faith, and 8)academics/education. With organic solidarity, individual consciousness is greater than collective consciousness(p.85). Every pil-org serves a purpose, stripping no one of his/her individuality, instead they complement each other strengthening the Pil-community with the broad range of skills that every individual possesses. Durkheim’s theory of solidarity explains much of the strength of the Pil-community but Durkheim cannot account for some members of the Pil-community.

Not everyone in the Pil-community is Pilipino, yet they still feel a strong affinity with the Pil-community. Durkheim’s theory of solidarity cannot explain why there are so many non-Pilipinos in the Pil-community because he does not recognize that similarities transcend shared identities. Everyone in the Pil-community advocates for the rights of Pilipinos even though they may not ethnically identify with them.

The Pil-community combines mechanical and organic solidarity, producing a cultural institution that is united by their similarities and differences. Everyone in the Pil-community often shares the Pilipino identity but everyone shares the same beliefs. Every pil-org serves different functions for the Pil-community making it more efficient and stronger. The solidarity emanating throughout the Pil-community strengthens not just the institution itself but every individual as well. “Isang Bagsak! One down, One fall!”