A Brief Discussion on the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community and a Reaction on its
Discussion
by Gabrielle Marie Alfon
The ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community
represents the human dimension of the ASEAN cooperation, which is more often
than not more popularly thought of as merely a regional economic cooperation.
While the three communities of ASEAN, namely the Economic Community, the
Political Security Community, and the Socio-Cultural Community all come
together to create a well-integrated regional cooperation, the Socio-Cultural
Community brings the personality, unique culture, and most importantly the
people of the region to the forefront. It is concerned with the peoples’
development and protection as a whole, focusing on the individuals of the
community. In fact, according to its blueprint, the ASCC envisions the
following characteristics: Human Development; Social Welfare and Protection;
Social Justice and Rights; Ensuring Environmental Sustainability; Building the
ASEAN Identity; and Narrowing the Development Gap.
This
vision of the ASCC is not an easy one to accomplish, considering the varying
identities, states of development, and overall circumstances that define each
of the ten member states. It is not only the diversity of the aforementioned
countries that will surely be an obstacle in achieving the ASCC’s vision, but
the scope of this vision as well. When one hears the phrase ‘socio-cultural’,
one may unintentionally assume it to refer to merely cultural and identity
issues, but the societal issues are just as, or even more, important. The ASCC
has leaps and bounds to go through in this regard, such as the promotion of
decent work, human resource development, poverty alleviation, and ensuring
environmental sustainability to name just a few. The ten member states of the
ASEAN will definitely need to cooperate with one another to achieve these ambitious
goals.
Last
August 7, Miss Danica Fernandez kindly gave us her time to discuss the ASCC
from her perspective and in relation to her thesis which was entitled,
“Internationalizing the Sub-National: Prospects for Intra-Regional Sister-City
Relations in Fostering the ASEAN Regional Identity”. She discussed how the ASCC
Community can not only be localized, but brought down to the individual and his
interaction with other individuals in the region. In an increasingly globalized
world, even something as simple as playing an online game can foster ties and
friendships across the seas and with our fellow ASEAN citizens. I appreciated
that Miss Fernandez emphasized that bridging the gap between our cultures did
not have to be done at such a formal arena such as conferences, but in informal
arenas as well such as social media, competitions, and traveling. It made me
realize that everyone can be a diplomat in his or her own way; Miss Fernandez
called this ‘citizen diplomacy’. This was refreshing because in International
Relations, much of the literature centers on states and non-state actors. In my
opinion, this way of thinking is very medieval. In our day and age, which is
the technological age, states are not the only means of interaction across
borders anymore. Neither is this interaction limited to economic interaction.
Now, a tourist from the Philippines can very well shape the views and opinions
of locals about Filipinos in general.
Miss
Fernandez did not broach the societal half of the Socio-Cultural whole, but
nevertheless, her discussion allowed me to view the ASCC in a different way. I
have learned that each and every one of us has a critical part to play in the
new ASEAN regional environment.
References:
http://www.nti.org/treaties-and-regimes/association-southeast-asian-nations-asean/
This is a good account. -ANFC
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