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Best regards, Andrew Stewart - - - Subscribe to the Washington Babylon newsletter via https://washingtonbabylon.com/newsletter/ Begin forwarded message: > From: H-Net Staff via H-REVIEW <h-rev...@lists.h-net.org> > Date: March 29, 2020 at 12:28:06 PM EDT > To: h-rev...@lists.h-net.org > Cc: H-Net Staff <revh...@mail.h-net.org> > Subject: H-Net Review [H-Diplo]: Kraft on Renshaw, 'Human Rights and > Participatory Politics in Southeast Asia' > Reply-To: h-rev...@lists.h-net.org > > Catherine Renshaw. Human Rights and Participatory Politics in > Southeast Asia. Philadelphia University of Pennsylvania Press, > 2019. 256 pp. $75.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-8122-5103-6. > > Reviewed by Herman Joseph Kraft (University of the Philippines) > Published on H-Diplo (March, 2020) > Commissioned by Seth Offenbach > > The issue of human rights in Southeast Asia has been an entire > intellectual industry since Southeast Asian political leaders first > challenged the idea of universal human rights with the idea of "Asian > values." Aside from the debate over the legitimacy of cultural > relativism as a critique of liberal interpretations of human rights, > the discussion about human rights in Southeast Asia has covered a > number of topics ranging from specific country issues (such the Dili > massacre and struggle for self-determination of East Timor, and > political repression in Myanmar) to the question of how human rights > norms can be propagated in the region. The latter includes debates > that try to explore structure (the prevalence of existing regional > norms such as broad adherence at the official level to the principle > of non-interference) and agency (the role played by civil society at > both the national and regional levels, and, more importantly, the > role of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations). While the issues > addressed by scholars in these different areas of discussion are > interrelated, they tend to focus on one or two as the core component > of their research. Catherine Renshaw's book covers these same issue > areas but takes off from a different starting point. > > Renshaw asks a question which largely puts all of the discussion > points covered by the literature together: is the behavior of states > in the region towards human rights more likely to be influenced or > affected by global- or regional-level engagement? In _Human Rights > and Participatory Politics in Southeast Asia_, she argues that > regional and global influences operate differently to effect change > in the human rights behavior of states. This depends not just on > agency but also on the prevalent political norms within a region. > Global human rights norms have a better chance of being accommodated > within a region if states within that region endorse those norms, > whereas the opposite is true if there is intractable opposition > within the region because of political or religious factors, or when > the presence of a hegemonic power "distorts the socialization > process" (p. 14). Essentially she is arguing that where liberal > political values have traction within a region, those groups > promoting human rights norms have a stronger chance of seeing these > norms adopted nationally. Where these values do not have any support > within the region, groups promoting human rights are better off > appealing to global norms and mechanisms. At the same time, she notes > that responses to _specific_ norms are different across governments > and countries, and therefore not simply dictated by political > conditions. Differences in how states in Southeast Asia respond to > human rights and specific human rights norms can be attributed to the > "relative legitimacy of global and regional norms and the > institutions that promote them" (p. 14). > > The book begins with the establishment of the Charter of the > Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which was adopted in > 2007. At the time, it was unclear as to the extent this would open up > a new era for human rights in the region. The book argues that there > was reason to be optimistic about those prospects. The book is > divided into two parts. The first part covers the discussion on the > domestic political situation of the different Southeast Asian states > and how this affected progress at the regional level of the adoption > of human rights norms. In this context, Renshaw points out that the > democratic deficit in different Southeast Asian countries, > particularly among the CLMV countries (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and > Vietnam), made it difficult to establish a robust regional human > rights mechanism with oversight authority. It might appear to be a > truism that human rights norms are easier to campaign for in > countries and regions that are more liberal and democratic. However, > Renshaw goes further by arguing that even where the regional > conditions might provide an opening for human rights norms to be > accommodated within regional structures, the absence of democratic > traditions at the state level provides obstacles for what Martha > Finnemore and Kathryn Sikkink refer to as a process of "norm cascade" > taking place in the region.[1] The limited accommodation human rights > norms have received in Southeast Asia owes precisely to these > democratic deficits. Even as there are obstacles at the level of the > region due to the ASEAN Way, and the ASEAN obsession with > "non-interference," Renshaw correctly attributes these regional > issues to differences in political structures and the lack of > traction that democratic values and institutions have in a number of > states in ASEAN. This could be seen in how ASEAN had to settle for a > relatively weak ASEAN Inter-governmental Human Rights Commission > (AICHR), and an ASEAN Human Rights Declaration that offered less than > what was contained in the UN Declaration on Human Rights. > > It is, however, in the second part of the book that Renshaw makes an > important contribution to the discussion on human rights in Southeast > Asia. Democratic deficits only explain part of the issue--a > significant part, but only a part nonetheless. It is in this section > where she identifies a more nuanced approach to human rights among > the members of ASEAN, regardless of how this is actually represented > in ASEAN. She does this by looking into the specific issues of > women's rights and trafficking in persons. In both cases, the > regional instrument is heavily influenced by global instruments. Yet > she notes a differentiated approach to both. This should end > continuing speculation about the centrality of "Asian values" to the > entire discussion of human rights in Southeast Asia and place it more > directly in its proper place--domestic and regional politics. > > Renshaw's discussion on women's rights is particularly strong in the > way she nuances specific approaches taken by ASEAN and the ASEAN > states on different aspects of the issue. Renshaw shows that the > entire discourse on women's rights in ASEAN strongly inclines towards > the specific question of violence against women. This is shown in how > strong the support was for a regional mechanism on violence against > women in ASEAN with the adoption of the Declaration on the > Elimination of Violence Against Women and the Elimination of Violence > Against Children (DEVWC) in October 2013. Even as the DEVWC reflects > a strong ASEAN position on the issue to the point where it > "acknowledges the commitment of the ASEAN states to international > instruments such as the United Nations Declaration on the Elimination > of Violence Against Women," she noted, however, that the ASEAN > Declaration did not include "the strong and specific definition of > violence that we find in ... the UN Declaration" (p. 117). This is > illustrative of how even in an area of strong consensus, details are > affected by _differentiated_ social norms. Consequently, specific > details that would make the regional instrument more robust are left > out in recognition of differentiated appreciation of the norm. This > is also reflected in the way that women's rights tend to be conflated > with children's rights. It makes the issue more consistent with how > Southeast Asian societies see women's rights but diminishes the > significance of women's rights in the context of advancing women's > equality in the region. > > The very nuanced approach taken by ASEAN that Renshaw points to in > her chapter on women's rights takes a different tack on the issue of > trafficking in persons. Where the UN Declarations were stronger in > content and oversight on the matter of women's rights compared to the > ASEAN instruments, she notes that the ASEAN instruments on > trafficking in persons were better accommodated domestically by the > ASEAN states in terms of how most of the ASEAN states passed specific > legislation related to human trafficking. Renshaw argues that this is > probably because the regional instruments better reflected a > "specifically _regional_ understanding of the problem of trafficking > that is particularly well-suited to promoting the internalization of > norms about preventing trafficking" (p. 124). In this context, ASEAN > was a better purveyor of anti-trafficking norms than the global > instrument, that is, the UN Protocol on Human Trafficking. > > The chapter on Myanmar emphasizes this dynamic between ASEAN and its > member states--that is, the extent to which ASEAN can influence its > members into internalizing regional norms. Since its acceptance into > ASEAN in 1997, ASEAN has had very little influence on Myanmar's > internal politics. The democratization process in Myanmar, while > encouraged by ASEAN, was not something that could be laid at the door > of ASEAN, even with adoption of the charter in 2007. Consequently, > the way by which Myanmar chose to adopt or ignore human rights in its > domestic politics was largely a byproduct of its own domestic > political dynamics. Thus, the Rohingya issue and the lack of ASEAN > influence over how Myanmar's government chose to settle it is > reflective of the weakness of ASEAN's institutional forms, the > capacity of ASEAN to enforce the norms they represent, and, more > importantly, their lack of legitimacy in the eyes of the people and > government that had to respond to them. > > Renshaw's book is an important addition to the literature on human > rights in Southeast Asia because it looks at specific issues and > dynamics between domestic and regional politics, and how these > dynamics accommodate (or reject) the way that human rights norms are > represented. The arguments about how the difficulty of promoting > human rights in ASEAN can be attributed to the latter being a "club > of dictators" is challenged not only in the face of the political > structures of the member states of ASEAN, but in how the different > member states of ASEAN have reacted differently to specific human > rights norms regardless of their domestic political systems. This is > a book that will be of value to students of ASEAN and contemporary > Southeast Asian politics. More importantly, it challenges structural > arguments made about institutions in International Relations. > Overall, it brings us closer to understanding the complexities > involved in trying to make sense of ASEAN. > > _Herman Joseph S. Kraft is the chair of the Department of Political > Science at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon > City._ > > Note > > [1]. Martha Finnemore and Kathryn Sikkink, "International Norm > Dynamics and Political Change," _International Organization _52, no. > 4 (Autumn 1998): 887-917. > > Citation: Herman Joseph Kraft. Review of Renshaw, Catherine, _Human > Rights and Participatory Politics in Southeast Asia_. H-Diplo, H-Net > Reviews. March, 2020. > URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=54322 > > This work is licensed under a Creative Commons > Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States > License. > > _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
