14/02/2025 (Friday) 13:00-14:00 E21B-G002
Shallowness of Liberalism in Postwar, Postcolonial Asia
Abstract:
A commonplace critique of Anglo-American university trained political scientists regarding political development of postwar, postcolonial nations in Asia is their lack of progress towards liberalism democracy. So much so that the recent book, From Development to Democracy: The Transformation of Modern Asia, proclaims: “Authoritarianism and Asia are tightly linked in the popular imagination.” The critique is less about “democracy” because procedural democracy of periodic general elections of the government is in place in all but the few communist states. The critique is more about the absence of liberalism. This seminar will attempt to provide a series of reasons of why liberalism is not on the agenda of postcolonial nations in Asia, ranging from the immediate necessity of establishing a sovereign people in a sovereign state, to the dense ideological network in each postcolonial nation constituted by local history, deeply rooted Asian civilization-cum-religious systems and precolonial political structures and cultural practices.
Bio:
Chua Beng Huat is Emeritus Professor and former Head of the Department of Sociology, National University of Singapore. He is founder and co-editor of the journal “Inter-Asia Cultural Studies.” His most recent book is Public Subsidy/Private Accumulation: The Political Economy of Singapore’s Public Housing (NUS Press).
