Status and social conflict

This chapter begins by looking at class and social structure, and ends by examining some of the traits which led to social conflict. The opening section examines the ruling classes, looking at the leaders of what were essentially small village groupings of often related families. The next section deals with other members of what were the upper classes and how they managed to obtain and keep their status. Following on from this is a discussion of some of the Malay-derived titles which were common in the Tagalog speaking areas around Manila, and concluding the section is a detailed examination of death and burial practices among the elite.
Section 2 is a short discussion of the class of freemen, those who were neither leaders nor slaves, and Section 3 a more detailed discussion of slaves, their treatment, opinions, and the possibilities of freeing themselves from servitude. In Section 4 is an examination of poverty, and in Section 5 some of the relationships pertaining between the powerful and powerless are discussed.
The final section brings together various topics which together fall under the heading of social conflict. To begin with is a discussion of irony and sarcasm, the interpersonal play on words which can both amuse and hurt. A section on arguments follows, discussed along with the reasons such situations occur. Debates is the next section, seen perhaps as a more sophisticated way of arguing, followed by the terms of provocation which could bring about such interpersonal friction.
The sections which end the chapter deal with reprimands and blame, aimed not only at the guilty, but the innocent alike; annoyance and offence and how it was felt and conveyed; anger, a more extreme form of annoyance, and finally challenges and threats and the kinds of warnings which might precede the onset of more violent behaviour.