ABSTRACT
Southeast Asia experienced rapid economic growth during the 1980s and early 1990s largely because of the emergence of the developmental state which successfully adapted itself to the thrust of neo-liberal globalization by adopting economic liberalization, deregulation and privatization policies. However, the role of the developmental state was attacked and rolled back in the wake of the 1997-98 regional financial crisis. Meanwhile, as a result of growth prior to the financial meltdown, there had occurred considerable political ferment due to the consolidation of the middle-classes. Consequently, in spite of state curbs and controls, democratic politics had (re)emerged prior to, as well as following the 1997-98 crisis.
This article traces the rise and evolution of the NGOs and consolidation of civil society in four Southeast Asian countries, namely, Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia. Central to the discussion is the extent to which the civil society organizations promoted a deepening of democracy and more equitable development. The analysis distinguishes between procedural democracy, perhaps best characterized by electoralism, and participatory democracy which stresses that the everyday rights, interests, perspectives and involvement of civil society at large must be taken into consideration by the powers-that-be, in between elections as well. Although much progress has occurred in the realm of procedural democracy, that democratization is not meaningful if it is not accompanied by participatory democracy. A last section investigates how NGOs in Southeast Asia and beyond have been networking with one another transnationally, in order to further that democratization. Put simply, the struggle for democratization especially in this era of globalism, also characterized by US unilateralism and Bush¡¦s war against terrorism, must be multi-terrain and regional in scope.
Author¡¦s biography
Francis Loh is Professor of Politics in Universiti Sains Malaysia (Penang). His latest book is Southeast Asian Responses to Globalisation: Restructuring Governance and Deepening Democracy (2005, co-editor and contributor). He currently co-ordinates a multi-country research project ¡¥Peace Building in Multi-Religious Multi-ethnic Southeast Asia¡¦ funded by the Ford Foundation. He is Secretary of Aliran, a Malaysian NGO devoted to social and political reform and a member of the Aliran Monthly editorial collective. He also sits on the Board of the Asian Regional Exchange for New Alternatives (ARENA, Seoul).
Contact address: School of Social Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Penang, MALAYSIA. |
