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Conference Announcement "Constitutional Design for Diversity and Conflict" South-South Regional Symposium on Constitution Building International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance Non-Aligned Movement Centre for South South Technical Cooperation Jakarta (Indonesia) 12-15 October 2009 __________________________________________________ Asia’s vast and unparalleled diversity is celebrated for its enormously rich and unique cultural patrimony. It is also a great challenge for governance where it aggravates conflict. For instance, current violent demands for territorial autonomy in countries like Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand are based on religious diversity. Religious belief, the justification for the phenomenal partition of India and Pakistan at the time of their independence, has retained its ability to spark serious communal violence in the world’s largest democracy. Likewise, ethnicity is a factor in the conflicts in Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Indonesia. These conflicts continue to be sparked or fuelled by societal polarisation driven by rising political consciousness within and between diverse groups. Constitutions in the South East Asia Countries of Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor Leste and Vietnam, have been framed with an ethos of harmonious population diversity. This is also mirrored in comparable foundational values and structural arrangements in Constitutions in South Asia – in Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Pakistan, Nepal, the Maldives and Sri Lanka. These Constitutions aim to accommodate individual liberalism as well as the distinctions that are assigned to diverse groups on account of religious, linguistic and ethnic identity. They permit in practice, a flexible interplay between positive constitutional norms and the conventions that grow from custom. A cultural pluralism is recognised even when aspiration is for a national “constitutionalised culture” with its assurances that preferred values should prevail Emerging trends in these regions, for instance in Nepal, the Philippines and Thailand, show how centralised and unitary systems have begun to change and adapt typical features of conflict management, such as self government of diverse groups. Constitution building can be understood as the broadening of consensus within political communities in support of the principles and modalities of decision making over the common welfare. This is a long term process, usually characterised by dialogue, and frequently instigated by serious political crises for which lasting solutions are sought. Sometimes, constitution building has implied “founding” acts to comprehensively remake constitutional norms, structures and institutions. Repeated constitution making in South East Asia and South Asia shows that while there is agreement on the instrumental use of constitutions to deal with diversity and conflict, constitutional arrangements themselves have remained contested. The key questions are: What kind of constitutional design will be necessary and adequate to manage the complex problems created by diversity driven conflict? What kinds of processes are required to build such constitutional designs? The South-South Regional Symposium on Constitution Building will consider how constitutional design has assisted the performance of the state in contexts where diversity animates conflict for different reasons. It will deepen understanding of comparable foundational values and constitutional structures across the regions and illuminate unique contextual practices. The objectives of the Symposium are: 1. Consider the impact of constitutional design on the performance of the state in managing and minimising the risks of diversity driven conflict in South East Asia and South Asia 2. Convene a symposium to pool knowledge from the experiences of constitution builders in these regions and share it with a broader audience in the form of print and online report 3. Constitute a network of individuals and institutions from the concerned regions that are interested in an online discussion forum on general and specific topics in constitution building 4. Draw conclusions that will support more effective constitutions and constitution building processes in the future Conference website: http://www.constitutionnet.org/en/event/south-south-regional-symposium-constitution-building __________________________________________________ InterPhil List Administration: http://interphil.polylog.org Intercultural Philosophy Calendar: http://cal.polylog.org
