Kate McDougall

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ASIA2002 Major Essay

Asian Values
Kate McDougall
Asian Values is a term used to reference a political theory in the 1990s,
which characterized elements of nations in South East and East Asia as having a
shared society, culture and history. It aimed to use commonalities, such as the
principle of collectivism, to unify people for their economic and social good and
to create a pan-Asian identity. This contrasted with perceived European ideals of
the universal rights of man, where the rights of the individual outweigh the
rights of the collective. The concept of Asian Values was overwhelmingly
rejected by the academic community with a number of strong arguments as to
why, including that in many cases some thought these Asian Values were simply
used as a method of justifying the lack of true democratic governments in South
East/East Asia (Zakaria, 2002).

However, there were a number of strong

supporters for this concept, including Mahathir Mohamad (Prime Minister of

Malaysia during 19812003) and later by Lee Kuan Yew, leader of Singapore
(1990 2004), with the rationale that there must be a reason why traditional
democratic models didnt seem to work in Asia, and why there had been such a
quick climb in the region out of the third world and into economic prosperity
despite this. The Asian Values debate draws attention to the differences
between the cultural values that are considered traditionally Asian and the
values that are considered Western or Australian and raises the issue of
cultural relativity, because how can we, of one culture, judge the values of
another countries culture that we are not belonging to. Both the differences
between Asian and Australian cultural values will be discussed below, as will the
arguments both for and against on the topic of Asian Values.
Although any attempt to identify a set of values of any nation is ultimately an
exercise in futility as most nations are too complex and contradictory to yield
any coherent result.

(Burnside, 2007, p.15) there are a handful of common

themes that can be seen through out Australias history. These include,
according to the Australian Department of Immigration and Border Protection,
egalitarianism, mateship and a fair go. Egalitarianism is a political philosophy
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that believes in equality. Its adherents support the notion that all people should
be treated as equals from birth because all human persons are equal in
fundamental worth or moral status whatever their nation, ethnic group, or
gender. (Watts, 2010). Along with the concept that all people are equal comes
the theory that as such all have equal inalienable human rights that the
Government should support and foster. The concept of mateship is one forged in
World War One and continues to play an integral part of society that embodies
friendship and loyalty, even to the detriment of the law. This places family and
friends above all else, including loyalty to the Government (Page, 2002). The
final value that makes up the trifecta of Australian cultural values is that the
idea of a fair go is one of the most enduring and endearing of Australian
characteristics. (Burnside, 2007, p.15) and although this concept of the fair go
is not necessarily universally applied, it is still an ingrained tenant in Australian
society. It is these cultural values that many see, although in different forms, as
being the underlying basis for Western culture, particularly that of democratic
countries, and it I important to have a contrast point when discussing Asian
Values, as this theory is based on the concept that Asian nations hold different
values to be more important.
There has been much debate over the political theory of Asian Values, but
in order to understand this debate it is important to first clarify what theses so
called Asian values entail.

It is also important to understand that the Asian

Values are based on a generalisation or that Eastern values reproduce a

broadly circulating concept of Asian civilisation, grounded on the supposed
commonalities between Chinese, Japanese and Indian forms of life (Jenco,
2013, p.246) meaning that while in they are very broad values, the degrees of
importance in which they are held is likely to change between nations. One of
the most coherent descriptions of Asian values comes from the Encyclopaedia of
Political Theory, which describes it from the point of view of major political
personas such a Lee Kuan Yew. They asserted that the Asian Values that
explained this success were discipline, hard work, frugality, educational
achievement, balancing individual and societal needs and deference to
authority. (Bevir, 2010, P.84). These values are so widely though of as being
Asian Values that they have become ingrained into the stereotype of Asian
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people in western cultures, perpetuated through various forms of the media and
art. This shift in stereotypes from that of the untrustworthy oriental occurred at
around the same time as the Asian Values debate, and was most likely spurned
by the increasing attention place on the region, particularly during the boom of
the Asian Tigers. These values are considered to be a part of the Pan-Asian
Movement, as these shared values should unite the Asian people. However,
despite the confusion over the definition of what these Asian Values entailed,
these discourses nevertheless provide an enduring vocabulary for articulating
Asian characteristics as challenges that transform, rather then traditional
values which supplement, Western processes of modernisation. (Jenco, 2013,
p.239).
The argument in favour of the Asian Values theory rests on the basis that
the cultural values that transcend borders in South East/East Asia make a
working western democracy fundamentally impossible. One of the foremost
leaders in Asian Values was Lee Kuan Yew who warned Western countries "not
to foist their system indiscriminately on societies in which it will not work." Lee
claimed that Western- style democracy, with its emphasis on individual rights,
was not suited to the more family-oriented cultures of East Asia. (Zakaria and
Yew, 1994). It is true that South East/East Asia in not know for its track record in
terms of democracy and values that we in the west hold dear, including human
rights and personal freedoms, and through the situation is constantly evolving,
the Easts grip on fully fledged democracy does seem to be wavering as the 16
countries of East and Southeast Asia now include only six functioning
democracies--a ratio worse than the worldwide average of six democracies for
every ten countries. The region hosts some of the world's most resilient
authoritarian regimes; meanwhile, Cambodia, the Philippines, and Thailand have
toggled between elected and unelected governments, and China's economic
success and political stability have made the country a model studied enviously
by strongmen around the world. (Doh, 2011, p.45). However, despite the lack
of democracy in the region, many nations within it are thriving economically,
with China, Japan, Singapore and Honk Kong preforming strongly even today
(World Bank, 2013). During the 90s, when the Asian Values debate pas
particularly prominent, Asia was experiencing an economic breakthrough, going
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through an industrial revolution and cramming the same amount of progression

that took the English a 300 years into the space of a few decades. This was why
In explaining East Asia's extraordinary economic development-what the World
Bank termed a "miracle"-many believed that culture played a pivotal role. After
all, so many Third World countries had tried to climb their way out of poverty,
and only those of East Asia had fully succeeded. (Zakaria, 2002, p.38). The
argument for Asian Values, is that they are fundamentally different then western
values and as such should not be held to Western standards and that it is this
difference that sets them apart economically, as while they do not necessarily
operate a fully fledged democracy there economies are doing quite well.
The argument made against Asian Values is that the values themselves
are universal, but they are not necessarily the most prominent values of other
nations. A case could be made that the so-called Asian Values . . . are not
especially Asian in any significant sense. (Sen, 1997, p.30), but are instead
simply the most convenient values that were dissimilar to Western values. In
fact, when looking at the so-called Asian Values, including hard work, frugality
and educational achievements, it become clear that these are values that exist
and are held to be important across all cultures, regardless of the race and
location of the people perpetuating them. The next argument is that there are
so many countries in Asia, and for every similarity there are two difference
across cultural, social, economic and political spheres. This can be seen in that
while China exists as a single-party socialist state, Indonesia is one of the
largest democracy in the world and that the discussion about Asian values was
not simply a scholarly debate. Many Asian dictators used arguments about their
regions unique culture to stop Western politicians from pushing them to
democratise. The standard rebuttal was that Asians prefer order to the messy
chaos of democracy. But East Asias recent political history makes a powerful
case for the universality of the democratic model- if done right. (Zakaria, 2002,
p.39). The next argument acts as a direct rebuttal to those who maintain the
myth that it is these Asian Values of hard work and frugality that lead to the
economic grown in Asia from the late 1970s. It is human nature to look for
patterns and reason for why some things happen, but most often there is no
clear answer and The truth is that there is no simple answer to why certain
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societies succeed at certain times. When a society does prosper, its success
often seems inevitable in retrospect. So the instinct id to examine successful
societies and search within their cultures for the seeds of success. (Zakaria,
2002, p.39). However, the economic boom was more likely attributed to the
opening up of the region following World War Two and the following Vietnam and
Korean Wars. With the establishment of trade links and increased support from
both sides during the Cold War, many of the countries in Asia suddenly became
members of the International community in their own right, rather then as the
foster child of a colonial power.
Asian Values is the term used for apolitical theory in the 1990s that set
out to justify East/South East Asias lack of genuinely democratic countries. It
rests on the belief that, while Western Countries hold values such a mateship,
the fair go and egalitarianism in high regard, the so called shared Asian values
of hard work, frugality, high education outcomes and deference to authority set
Asia apart. The arguments on support of Asian values sets out that there must
be a reason that democracy doesnt work in Asia, and as it is not for the lack of
trying it must be cultural difference. The next point is that democracy is a
western construct, and as such should not be force on the eastern societies.
This is followed by the fact that during the time that the Asian values debate
was reaching its peak, Asia was in a state of economic boom with China as the
Asian dragon and Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan as the Asian
tigers. However, each of these points has been steadily rebuffed, with this
economic prosperity chalked up to a post-Cold War interest in the region and
simple luck. In terms of the values setting Asia apart, these self-same values
can be found around the world, as they are a generalisation, and even within
Asian do not necessarily apply to the same country in the same way. The final
point in this argument is that, particularly in the last few years, there have been
functioning democracies in Asia, countries that supposedly hold these same
values. While the debated about Asian values is not without merit, as it has
raised questions of cultural relativism and western dominance, it is clear to see
that the Asian Values debate has been firmly won by the opposing side.

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Kate McDougall

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ASIA2002 Major Essay

Word Count: 1,988

Kate McDougall

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ASIA2002 Major Essay

Works Cited
Bevir, M. (2010) Encyclopedia of Political Theory, London: SAGE.
Burnside, J. (2007) 'Australian Values', Australian Quarterly, vol. 79, no. 3, MayJun., pp. 15-20.
Department of Immigration and Border Protection (2014) Life in Australia:
Australian Values, Canberra, Available: https://www.immi.gov.au/media/factsheets/07values.htm [7 October 2014].
Doh, C.S. (2011) 'Confucianism and Democratization in East Asia', Cambridge
University Press.
Jenco, L. (2013) 'Revisiting Asian Values', Journal of the History of Ideas, vol. 74,
no. 2, April, pp. 237-258.
Page, J.S. (2002) 'Is Mateship a Virtue?', Australian Journal of Social Issues, vol.
37, no. 2, pp. 193-200.
Sen, A. (1997) 'Human Rights and Asian Values', Carnegie Council on Ethics and
International Affairs.
Watts, D. (2010) Dictionary of American Government and Politics , Washington.
Zakaria, F. (2002) 'Asian Values', Foreign Policy, Nov.-Dec., pp. 38-39.
Zakaria, F. and Yew, L.K. (1994) 'Culture Is Destiny: A Conversation with Lee
Kuan Yew', Foreign Affairs, vol. 73, no. 2, Mar.-Apr., pp. 109-129.

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