This book presents the protracted right to self-determination conflict between the Philippine
state and the Bangsamoro group in Mindanao Philippines. In the five decades of attempts to
achieve peace a key element is the Bangsamoros¿ search for a kind of development that is
compatible with their aspirations for freedom and their future. This book presents a study of
the Bangsamoro communities and their social constructions of conflict peace and development.
It examines the viability of the sustainable human development framework for application in
their challenging realities. The usefulness of the sustainable human development framework lies
not only in its use of human development parameters like the Human Development Index. It also
provides an approach towards development that synergizes with the sustainable peace framework ¿
an imperative for Mindanao. At the centre of this approach is the Participatory Rural Appraisal
and Participatory Learning and Action methodology for eliciting responses stimulating
discussion documenting verbal and non-verbal ideas and carrying out small-scale projects to
demonstrate community participation. The book concludes with two main points: that (a) both
sustainable human development and peacebuilding are mutually reinforcing frameworks aimed at
achieving the same human development goals and (b) the pursuit of the right to
self-determination is enhanced as both frameworks are combined to provide a context for the
attainment of peace in Mindanao.
