Asian Values Lee Kuan Yew & Amatyr Sen

Asian ValuesLee Kuan Yew &

Amatyr Sen Laura DingNg Li Tian

Lee Kuan Yew• Born as a British Subject in

Singapore in 1923 • Went to study in England

after WWII• Graduated with a double

First Class Honours from the University of Cambridge

• First PM of Singapore (1959-1988)

• A Highly Respected Yet Controversial Figure

Culture Is Destiny• An East Asian view on America -

Freedom versus Total Freedom• East: Well-ordered society -->

everyone can have maximum enjoyment of freedom • West: Enjoyment of maximum

freedom --> breakdown of society• Things that went wrong in America

Culture Is Destiny

• The Asian Model and It's existence

East: Individual exists in the context of his familyWest: Individual reigns supreme over society• State as a facilitator of

economic and social growth

Culture Is Destiny

• Asian model too rigid to adapt well to change?

Family and the structures of human relationship as backbone

• Regulated intellectual freedom by the government does not lead to productivity problem

Culture Is Destiny• Culture deserves more credit in

the cases of successful governments

• Different cultures-->certain driving forces will be absent

Culture Is Destiny

• Culture does change but the Asian government systems will never be the same replica of British or the US

both mindsets & value system are susceptible to changes

• What people are seeking: stability and security

Culture Is Destiny

• Peace and Harmonious Coexistence within Multicultural States

• Too many distinct components within a nation can hinder progress but one has to find a middle path

Culture Is Destiny

• Rise of Chinaholds a welcoming attitude

• The Expansion of Japan's Political and Military Responsibilities

allowing Japan to send forces abroad = giving liquor to an alcoholic?

Discussion Questions• Do you agree with the statement that "Culture is Destiny"?• What is an Asian Model? Does it exist at all?• Have your perceptions towards Asian system of government changed

after reading this? If yes, how so?

Amartya Sen- Born Nov.3, 1933 in India

- Educated at Presidency College in Calcutta

- Received a B.A. (1955), an M.A. (1959), and a Ph.D. (1959) at Trinity College, Cambridge

- Currently Professor of Economics and Philosophy at Harvard

- Awarded the 1998 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to welfare economics and social choice theory

Examines two main questions1) The defense of authoritarianism in Asia from an economic

standpoint2) The defense of authoritarianism in Asia from a historical standpoint

Asian Values and Economic Development

Sen challenges this hypothesis by stating:

1) There is a little general or statistical evidence that authoritarian governance and the suppression of political and civil rights are really beneficial in encouraging economic development.

2) There is no evidence that proves helpful policies for economic growth such as use of international markets, openness to competition have to be sustained by authoritarianism.

3) It is important not to forget the positive role that political and civil rights play in the prevention of economic and social disasters.

“Lee Hypothesis” – defends authoritarian arrangements on the ground of their alleged effectiveness in promoting economic success.

Asia as an UnitTemptations to see Asia as one unit is a distinctly Eurocentric perspective

There is great diversity within Asia, attempts at generalization about Asian values can be very crude.

Ideas of individual liberty in the East and West

Advocates of Asian particularism: While there is heterogeneity in Asia, Asian countries share the common feature of being skeptical of freedom and liberty, while emphasizing order and discipline.

The West often backs this up by seeing respect for personal and political liberty as deeply rooted in Western values and contrasting it with the authoritarianism allegedly implicit in Confucianism.

Sen argues:Presence of selective championing of individual liberty that contribute to the contemporary idea of individual liberty does exist in the Greco-Roman world and Christian thought, but what needs to be examined is whether they exist as well in other ‘non-western’ cultures.

1) the value of personal freedom - yes2) the equality of freedom - ?

1) the value of toleration - yes2) the equality of tolerance - ?

The roots of modern democratic and liberal ideas should be sought in terms of constitutive elements. There is no “clear formulation” of it in the ancient world.

Order and Confucianism1) Confucius does not recommend blind

allegiance to the state. “When the [good] way prevails in the state, speak boldly and act boldly. When the state has lost the way, act boldly and speak softly.

2) “The silence of Confucius” - We not only have to examine what he says, but what he does not say. What isn’t explicity supported isn’t necessarily implicitly forbidden.

3) The diversity of Asian value systems – Confucianism is not the only tradition in China

Freedom and Tolerance in IndiaKi

ng Ashoka • Champion of egalitarian and

universal tolerance

• “A man must not do reverence to his own sect of disparage that of another man without reason. Depreciation should be for specific reason only, because the sects of other people all deserve reverence for one reason or another.”

• Extended tolerance to “all people and creatures”.

Kautilya • Attaches little importance to

political/economic equality, his vision of good society is strongly stratified according to lines of class and caste

• Importance of freedom figures prominently for upper class

• This isn’t too different from the Greek concern with freedom, but leaving out slaves and women

More examplesMoghul emperor Akbar • Emphasized the acceptability of diverse forms of social and religious

practice such as freedom or worship and religious practice• However, this tolerance did not extend to aspects such as gender

Shivaji• Wherever his followers were plundering, they should not harm the

mosques, the book of God, or the women of anyone.

Alberuni• Iranian, studied indian society, culture, religion• Discussed the subject of intolerance of the unfamiliar

Intervention Across National Boundaries

However, Sen argues:

1) Human rights aren’t derived from the citizenship of any country (unlike constitutionally created rights which are created for specified people), therefore the reach of human rights and their corresponding duties include any human being, regardless of citizenship.

The championing of Asian values is often associated with the need to resist Western hegemony.

2) While he isn’t recommending forceful and ubiquitous intervention, he is simply stating that the barriers of citizenship shouldn’t be used as a reason to people from taking legitimate interest in the rights of others.

His concluding remarks• The so-called Asian values that are invoked to justify authoritarianism

are not especially Asian in any significant sense.• Authoritarian readings of Asian values that are increasingly being

championed in some quarters do not survive scrutiny.• The grand dichotomy between Asian values and European values adds

little to our comprehension to the basis of freedom and democracy.

Discussion Questions1) Do you agree that so-called Asian values are not actually “Asian” in

any significant sense? 2) What role, if any, does culture play in a country’s acceptance of

human rights?3) Are the different standpoints on human rights due to a difference in

the degree of development or a dichotomy between Asian and European values?