NEW BOOK: Civil Society Reflections on South East Asian Regionalism: ASEAN@40
Posted:  February 14, 2008   04:59:58pm

Civil society is increasingly becoming an important element in the regionalization process of South East Asia. On the one hand, the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) is starting to recognize the roles of civil society as crucial in determining its future shape and agenda. ASEAN is slowly, albeit cautiously, opening up its door for the involvement of civil society groups in its processes. On the other hand, the new interest in ASEAN reflects the growing importance civil society gives to it, both in terms of its potential benefits and in terms of the negative impacts an unaccountable regional association could mean to the region’s peoples. Still, civil society continues to regard ASEAN as elitist and state-centric; the regional body will have to do more if it is to achieve its dream of becoming a people-centered organization.

Civil society, particularly its members from within the business community, has interacted with ASEAN since the 1970s. The business community saw the establishment of the ASEAN Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASEAN-CCI) in 1972 as an important vehicle for channeling their inputs on regional economic issues to ASEAN and its member governments. With increased business networking in the region, the ASEAN-CCI helped enhance regional economic integration by playing a key role in the creation of the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA).

The academic community has also engaged ASEAN from early on. For example, the ASEAN Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ASEAN-ISIS), a network consisting of one think tank from each of the ASEAN member countries, and the Institute for South East Asian Studies (ISEAS), has provided much-needed input to ASEAN’s regional integration initiatives. In the late 1980s, ASEAN-ISIS developed the idea of an assembly of the people of ASEAN, subsequently transforming it into the ASEAN People’s Assembly (APA), the first of which was held in 2000. It was through APA that ASEAN and its member governments finally recognized people’s participation.

The idea of directly engaging the people has been articulated even within the circle of ASEAN political elites, highlighted for instance by former Indonesian Foreign Minister and one of the founding fathers of ASEAN, Adam Malik, declaring in the 1980s that “the shaping of a future of peace, friendship and cooperation is far too important to be left to government and government officials… [as such, there is a need for] ever-expanding involvement and participation of the people.” Malik’s idea, however, just remained an issue of discussion between the official circle, also known as Track 1, and the policy dialogue circle, also known as Track 2. The slow development of an ASEAN civil society track can be attributed to the existence of authoritarian regimes in most ASEAN member states, just as the lack of information on the ASEAN and its work also retarded civil society’s interest in ASEAN.

The expansion of ASEAN’s regional integration agenda and the results of previous initiatives have attracted the attention of regional civil society groups, which in recent years have also started to engage international institutions and processes to complement their national work. The processes around the creation of the ASEAN Community by 2015 and the drafting of the ASEAN Charter have provided occasions for these groups to come together. The creation of the Solidarity for Asian Peoples’ Advocacies (SAPA) Working Group on ASEAN, a loose network of South East Asian civil society groups, in February 2006, in particular, provided a vehicle by which regional groups could discuss, debate and strategize on ASEAN-related issues and actions. SAPA WG on ASEAN in a way represented a democratization of engagement with ASEAN matters, and demanded direct access to ASEAN institutions and processes.

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This book is an initial attempt at documenting how far peoples’ advocacies have reached in ASEAN. It is a product of collaboration among groups and individuals involved in various advocacies and campaigns in the region, most of whom are active members of the Solidarity for Asian Peoples’ Advocacies (SAPA) Working Group on ASEAN. The work and combined experience of everyone served as ready pool of insights that inspired this book.

The book has chapters on:

Civil Society Engagement with ASEAN: An Overview by Alexander C. Chandra and Jenina Joy Chavez

Engaging ASEAN: A Case Study of the Asian Partnership for the Development of Human Resources in Rural Asia (AsiaDHRRA) by Marlene Ramirez

Changing Discourse in Security in South East Asia and the Role of Civil Society by Muhadi Sugiono

ASEAN and the Policy of Human Rights by Daniel Collinge

Is Burma Merely a Problem in ASEAN or the Proof of ASEAN’s Fundamental Flaws? by Debbie Stothard

People-Centered Economic Solidarity: Beyond the ASEAN Economic Community Blueprint by Alexander C. Chandra and Jenina Joy Chavez

The Working People of ASEAN: Promoting Social Partnership in the Regional Integration Process by Christopher Ng and Mohamed Shafie BP Mammal

Migration in the ASEAN Region by William Gois

Closing the Development Gap: An ASEAN Puzzle by Rene Ofreneo

Ayeyawady – Chao Phraya – Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS): Another Perspective from Thailand by Sajin Prachason

ASEAN at 40: A Gender Analysis of the Challenges of Open Regional Economic Integration by Josefa Francisco and Marina Durano

Environment and Biodiversity in ASEAN: Regional Environmental Governance and the “ASEAN Way” by Elenita Dano

Civil Society Reflections on South East Asian Regionalism: ASEAN@40, co-edited by Alexander C. Chandra and Jenina Joy Chavez, is published by South East Asian Committee for Advocacy. For inquiries about purchase or distribution of the book, please contact SEACA at info@seaca.net.