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ID: 159354

Coping with crisis: Southeast Asian regionalism and the ideational constraints of reform / Rüland, Jürgen

Rüland, Jürgen	Journal Article
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Summary/Abstract

The key argument of this article is that during serious crises and external shocks, societal actors do not necessarily follow the predictions of theories on ideational change. This literature argues that crises and external shocks spur ideational change as expectations associated with the old order are no longer met. A study of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) shows that the Asian financial crisis of 1997/1998 stimulated a reform debate but that this discourse did not facilitate paradigmatic changes in the region’s repository of cooperation norms. What at first sight appeared to be an accelerating Europeanization of Southeast Asian regionalism proved to be a process involving the retention of major elements of the region’s “cognitive prior.” New ideas of regional integration have at best been emulated or localized, but have not led to a thorough transformation of Southeast Asian cooperation norms. This must be attributed to the entrenched nature of the region’s cognitive prior epitomized by the worldviews of political decision-makers who regard the external world as essentially hostile. This belief has been reproduced many times in the political experiences of the region’s foreign policy elites—not least by the Asian Financial Crisis—thus confirming the ideational orthodoxy that national sovereignty provides the best protection for nation states. A deepening of regional integration is faced with major ideational obstacles under these conditions.

Key Words

Reform ; Southeast Asian Regionalism ; Ideational Constraints

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ID: 086553

How and why interaction matters: ASEAN's regional identity and human rights / Manea, Maria-Gabriela

Manea, Maria-Gabriela	Journal Article
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2009.

Summary/Abstract

The aftermath of the Cold War has brought a shift in the West's position on the acceptance and promotion of international human rights standards in developing countries. In this context, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries challenge the West's position based on two contradictory principles - comprehensibility and cultural embedment of human rights. In this article, I argue that interactions with regard to human rights involving state and non-state actors in ASEAN have become part of the process of regional identity formation. How ASEAN has responded to external pressures in terms of compliance with international human rights norms, and how it has developed its own normative and procedural approach to human rights at the regional level, are inherent in the dynamics of `Self' definition. A mixed pattern of `rhetorical' and `communicative action' explains how interaction has led to different phases - differentiation, affirmation, contestation and re-orientation - in the dynamics of `Self' definition of ASEAN with regard to human rights.

Key Words

ASEAN ; Communicative Action ; Regional identity ; Social Constructivism ; International Relations - Case Studies ; Regional Human Rights ;
Rhetorical Interaction ; Southeast Asian Regionalism

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