cover l editorial l chapter 1 l 2 l 3 l 4 l 5 l 6 l 7 l 8 l 9 l 10 l

1. Issues And Concerns

      Asia with more than half of the human race, is in great turmoil. The countries of Asia struggle for survival, having to provide food and the means of subsistence to its growing populations. They have to do so within a global world system in which the white peoples from Europe had in the past forcibly taken over the vast land spaces of the world and colonized most regions to their advantage. Now the giant Transnational Corporations based mainly in Europe, North America and Japan are intruding into all comers of the world backed by the power of rich countries, international agencies and the local elites who support them.

     Freed from centuries of colonial rule and from foreign incursions, Asian peoples have witnessed different forms and rates of modernization and economic development during the period after the Second World War. Based on the Gross National Product (GNP)*, Asian countries can be divided into three categories:

   *(The GNP though not necessarily a measure of incomes and wealth, gives an indication of the economic strength of a country in the world market)

                At one end of the spectrum are the poor countries such as:

     These poor countries are facing grave difficulties as they are generally backward in technology and modernization, have relatively large populations, and are also involved in internecine conflicts that divide peoples, destroy human lives, waste resources and debilitate the whole of society. They are divided on the basis of political parties, ethnicity, religion, culture and sometimes ideology. External interference often aggravates and prolongs these conflicts. They are presently torn between the need to modernize by opening themselves to foreign capital and technology and the desire to safeguard their economic self-reliance and traditional cultures.

    A second group of countries are at an intermediate stage of economic development, with a somewhat higher per capita GNP:

              The four NICs or Dragons of East Asia are the fastest growing economies of the world:

          (Macau, thanks largely to tourism, has a GNP of $9,050) 

    These countries are developing on the capitalist model with high technology and steadily increasing exports. Their drive for modernization, as in China, is due to the long history of humiliation by foreign rulers and the need to meet the needs of their peoples. The very rapidity of modernization is causing the erosion of traditional cultural values of family life and of social harmony in society.

     The newly independent Central Asian republics have just emerged from the colonial domination of the late Soviet Union. Their future evolution is watched with much interest due to their strategic position and the Islamic composition of their populations.

     At the other end of the spectrum, is the economic super power Japan with impact throughout the world as a leader in technology and trade. Japan benefits from the rest of Asia which is a source of cheap raw materials, sweated labor and extensive markets for its products.

     The rapid growth of a few nations demands from the rest of the world too high a price in terms of exploitation of labor, of scarce resources and of the environment. The modern capitalistic pattern of development is leading to an attack on nature and the resources of the peoples that cannot long continue without disastrous effects on the whole region and the human race. The ecological balance is a victim of the modern pattern of agricultural and industrial development in which profits are sought, especially by private owners of big capital, without due regard to the limits which the harmony of nature imposes or demands.

      We should then seek a path of development that is more resource-conscious and respectful of the rhythm of nature. Yet, on the other hand, the people’s expectations are increasing due to the increase in population and the demonstrated effects of modern communications. Can big nations like China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan and Bangladesh develop fast enough to satisfy their people’s basic needs and provide a few of the modern amenities they too have a right to? If not, will these nations burst asunder in internal violence or spill over into other regions as migrant labor or refugees?

      In this connection, it has to be noted that Asians am migrating in big numbers within Asia and to other countries. Some migrate because they are rich enough to do so or are part of the brain drain; many others are economic or political refugees. The latter are often denied their basic human rights in their new places.

     This situation is extremely hard on women, especially those who are poor. The pressure of providing for their families make many women of poor Asian countries migrant laborers in affluent countries. They are subjected to inhumanely long hours of work, and are even sexually harassed. In some countries, the laws of the land have little concern for foreigners and especially for females. Their home countries expect from them foreign exchange but do little to safeguard their rights as human beings. They, thus wander about in foreign lands as the conditions at home are even more unbearable.

      The pattern of development includes the setting up of new industries such as electronic and textile factories in which the workers are exploited by local and foreign companies. There is a large gap between the profits earned by the owners of capital and the meager wages paid to labor. Increasingly, these owners of capital are the new rich – both local and foreign from Asia. The workers from poor countries have a burden loaded on them similar to what took place when Europe was being industrialized. Pope Leo XIII’s encyclical Rerum Novarum referred to these workers. In poor Asian countries, a new slavery that enriches some at a very high rate is being developed before our very eyes and young women and children are its principal victims.

     Tourism is another area of development that sees rapid growth in our sunbathed countries. The affluent from the rich countries want the seas, beaches and lands for their relaxation and recreation. The governments of the poor countries, eager for foreign exchange, offer the tourists all the facilities and privileges they desire. Once again, young women and children are the victims of this type of tourism that is closely related to prostitution. On the other hand, some others, even in Asia, are rich enough to take part in organized sex tours in the poorer countries.

      Foreign debt is a heavy burden on Asian countries. The “Third World” in general is subsidizing the rich debtor countries since about 1985, as the net flow of finances is from the poor to the rich countries. Is this not true of the Asian countries too? The IMF and the World Bank use this situation to pressure the poor countries to accept their Structural Adjustment Programs (SAP) as a condition for making available more aid as grants, loans and investments to balance the foreign exchange budget and pay the debt services. Even countries like India are now being compelled to accept the policy package of the IMF/WB. It is doubtful that any country has really developed following the IMF/WB policies. The future is thus bleak, with the likelihood of the poor becoming poorer even absolutely, while an affluent class becomes richer through this pattern of development. 

      International justice, including the needs of the poor countries, would seem to demand that the foreign debts be canceled and the rich donor countries bear the responsibility, if any of repaying the creditors. The terms of trade have been increasingly unfavorable to the exporters of primary products even during the past few decades. Further the inter-nation debt should not be calculated only from the period when the colonized countries became independent. Do not the former colonial powers owe compensation to them for the centuries of exploitation of their people, lands and resources, and the economic policies and unfair terms of trade imposed on them?

Issues For The Future

     This varied situation and prospects among the Asian countries raise issues which are important for their future and for the whole human race. Can the path of OPEC, exercising an oligopolistic control over the price of an essential commodity, be the pattern of development for all the countries? Can the NICs or Japan be the model of development for the rest of Asia? What is the future of the present pattern of industrial and agricultural development based on the extensive use of the non-renewable resources of the world such as petroleum?

    Is the slow rate of growth of the poor countries due primarily to their internal conflicts, corruption, easy-going ways and/or some cultural and religious factors that make for a relatively lesser concern for economic development and productivity? Are their ideological orientations responsible for the lower rate of growth in China, or on the contrary, has Chinese communism saved China from a form of neo-colonialism that is overtaking many other Asian countries? Does the present Chinese model indicate a viable path of socialism with the operation of a free market subject to some state regulation? Is the Chinese model of development feasible for small countries? Is secularization, as in Japan, a help to rapid economic development unhindered by the conflicts engendered by relig­ious and ethnic communities?

Implications Of Democratization

      Democratization is now a trend that is gathering momentum in some Asian countries especially as the standard of living of their peoples improve. It may be asked how far democracy is part of our traditional heritage in the context of feudal relationships, and how far is it due to the impact of the western world.

      Presently, Western nations that long supported Asian dictatorships in many countries such as Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, Pakistan, Iran and Iraq, are quite concerned about civil and political rights in Asian countries. This is partly due to the growth of humanitarian trends among them and also perhaps because they think that a multiparty democracy offers them more opportunities for economic infiltration into the country by playing off one party against the other or supporting the party more favorable to their interests. Democracy may thus ensure a more stable climate for foreign investments.

     Due to a variety of factors, there is a fortunate wave favorable to the democratic participation of people in government. The settlement of conflicts involving Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, the improvement of the relationship between North and South Korea, the normalization of relationships between China and Taiwan and the agreement on the return of Hong Kong to China in 1997 and of Macau in 1999 are positive trends that could generally help these countries, though many in Hong Kong have serious concerns about their democratic and economic future, especially in the context of the Tienanmen massacre of 1989 in Beijing.

      Another issue is whether democracy can be maintained if the poverty and social inequalities in a country increase beyond bearable proportions. The IMF/WB prescriptions imposed on the poor countries may lead to some economic growth; but if they fail to meet the urgent needs of the majority who are poor, democratic rule itself (where it exists) may be a victim. Social unrest would then lead to violent conflicts and the rulers would resort to force to maintain law and order. It may be asked whether the lMF/WB policy package tends to make countries ungovernable democratically. This is a dire prospect that South Asians face. How far can democracy survive with capitalism in a poor country? On the other hand, can people’s aspirations be met without their democratic participation in the political processes?

      The Soviet Union collapsed and disintegrated while trying to hasten the pace of political democratization without attending first to the democratization of the economy. China is restraining political democratization, but attempting an opening and liberalizing of the economy. If these efforts of China at economic growth fail to meet the basic needs of the people, worse disasters are possibly in store.

      The process of democratization of poor countries, in a world of big, uncontrollable giants like the global Transnational Corporations (TNCs) enjoying immense power over production, trade, financial resources, and even armaments, is a very risky enterprise. The global military industrial complex linked to the TNCs and the world’s rich nations, seems to have a policy of encouraging “low intensity conflicts” in the poor countries, seemingly to bleed them through conflicts and arms purchases.

      Those genuinely concerned with political democracy may not often reflect adequately on the difficulties of maintaining it within the context of mass poverty and global exploitation of the poor by the rich. These are some of the contradictions in the political sphere that Asian nations have to face.

2. Development Concepts

        It is important to understand that the common thread connecting many of the unresolved issues in the Asian region is an imported concept of Western development which is centered on wild growth. So-called modern development has not only distorted the economies of many of our countries in favor of the rich elites at the cost of the survival needs of the mass of the population; it has also eroded the resource base and produced ecological imbalances with disastrous global effects.

The Hegemonic Development Concept

        Modernization has been based on industrialization and maximization of profits. Compared to the contemporary knowledge about resources and resource use, such modernity has rapidly become outdated.

1.     For over twenty years environmentalist first led by the Club of Rome, have pointed out the finiteness and rapid exhaustion of non-renewable resource, be it for production of energy or mineral resource for production of goods.

2.     More recently, our attention has been drawn to the fact that at the present rate of economic growth, even renewable resources get converted into non-renewable ones. Green revolution technologies which require over-use of water, pesticides and chemical fertilizers have led to sinking water tables, soil erosion, loss of top soil and salinity of soils. Vanishing forest covers have aggravated the problems of drought and loss of top soils. Wood resources have gone into the production of totally superfluous goods like throw-away paper napkins, chopsticks, etc. and forest dwellers have lost their livelihood in the process.

3.     Over-production and over-consumption in rich countries (e.g. cars, refrigerators, air- conditioners, aerosol sprays, etc.), also leads to global ecological damage, e.g. holes in the ozone layer, the greenhouse effect, global warming, melting of the polar caps, earthquakes and floods which threaten poor countries like Bangladesh or the Philippines. The rich elites in the poor countries are actively promoting such damaging development as well.

      The more recent surveys on global resources like the Brundtland Report or the publication of the World Watch Institute or the Second Report of the Club of Rome, have pointed out that resource management cannot be left in the hands of the privileged elites but needs to be worked out in ways which safeguard democratic participation and protect the basic survival needs of the marginalized masses. The application of hegemonic development concepts has been uneven over the different regions of Asia. Japan stands out for most rapid capitalist development, partly at the expense of other Asian countries. In the NICs, the effort towards modernization has been more long drawn and in several stages, combining import substitution with export oriented policies. Hard work has created pride in successful modernization. In the process, unbridled capitalism and the excessive play of market mechanisms have led to patterns of production and consumption which have been both culturally and ecologically damaging.

      South Asian nations have experienced forms of capitalism combined with sustained State planning and a certain role of the public sector catering to the needs of private capital. While this has protected certain basic social services, it has not helped to bridge the widening gap between the masses below the poverty line and the ruling elites.

     The Southeast Asian countries are vacillating between the attractions of successful capitalism in East Asia and the lingering poverty of large parts of their populations. Their indigenous modes of subsistence production have been destroyed in the process. East Asian capital is now making an impact on the whole region.

Alternative Development

      Exchanging our experiences from the Asian sub-regions we have come to an agreement that we need a radically different paradigm of development centered around the production and sustenance of life instead of the production of profit.

      We have understood that the only unlimited growth is the growth of the cancer cell while life can only be sustained if natural life cycles are respected. Time is not money. Time is Life Time. This insight is in tune with the Asian concept of Time as well as with our traditions of living in cosmic harmony with nature and with the elements. However, we have no illusions about the difficulties with which such an alternative development concept can be put into practice. As the educated elites have surrendered our sovereignty to the World Bank and the IMF, development alternatives today are spearheaded by women, peasants, tribals and dalits and by the vast masses of working classes in traditional and non-formal sectors as well as ecological movements. Our hope is also in an appeal to reason and compassion aimed at the enlightened parts of the elites to respond to the rising peoples struggles. It is our conviction that ecology and social justice are indivisible. It will be necessary to briefly outline what the capitalist development concept has done to our region in the economic, social and political fields and then to present what we envision as alternatives. This will also imply the acknowledgment that in Asia, the discussion about socialism is not dead as is the case in some European countries.

Critique of Privatization of Resource

      Western Capitalism has led to rapid privatization and monetization of our economies. In East Asia, the “get rich quick” syndrome has led to great insecurity and social instability together with pollution of the environment. But it has created an illusion of the success of capitalism in the short term. In the other regions, capitalism has led to the destruction of land, the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few and far-reaching environmental devastation. The basics, like drinking water and elementary hygiene, are no longer available. The non-availability of cooking fuel has been shown to be one of the major survival hazards in the sub-continent and in the countries of Southeast Asia. People’s control over the resource base for regeneration of the soil, water and forest cover is imperative in this situation.

Monetization

      Growing indebtedness to international monetary institutions like the IMF and the World Bank leads to further devastation of our economies due to structural adjustments expressed in devaluation of currencies, inflation, wage freeze, curbs on social expenditure (like basic amenities, health, education), erosion of the distribution system (ration shops), curbs on small loans for survival needs, etc. Structural adjustments are most painful for the poorer parts of the population in economically weaker countries. Ecologically viable development will, therefore, have to also deal with the abolition of debt, the reform of banking system and the equalization of international currencies.

Science And Technology

      Side by side we will also need a drastic review of the impact of Western science and technology. It has been pointed out by many Asian authors that science and technology are not neutral. Hegemonic science and technology itself has been shown to be colonial, patriarchal and geared to profit accumulation. This has to do with the fact that much of it has been developed by the military industrial complex with the aim of conquering territories and markets.

       Another field which needs critical attention is biotechnology controlled by multinationals. Some of the crucial battles of the future will be about the control over skills and knowledge systems and people’s need for knowledge being protected against privatization and patenting as promoted by the GATT and other international control systems.

       However, we certainly do not advocate a stand which is anti-science and technology. To spell out what is people’s science and appropriate technology, we have to gear ourselves to the survival needs of the marginalized masses and put a curb on production for wants of the rich elites. We also have to fight militarization and increasing violence in our midst. Instead, we need an exchange of appropriate technologies evolved by peasants, women, fisherfolk and other marginalized sectors together with enlightened scientist. We have to gear our energies toward regeneration of soils, water, forest and fish resources and side by side develop self-reliant units of production and marketing which will subvert and challenge the system of the world market as it is at present. This will also curb wasteful energy expenditure in transport. At the same time, we need to focus on alternative energy production (especially solar, wind, tidal) which has been neglected because of industrialization which dominates us and because of military interest in the nuclear option. We also need to develop alternatives to the media which promotes hegemonic development by advertisement and other means.

Industrialization

      Incisive rethinking will need to be evolved on the question of industrialization. Industrialization and modernization have not been experienced as liberating forces for a large number of the poor in our region. This is particularly true for East Asia. In Southeast Asia and South Asia, the ambiguities of industrialization have been felt particularly in the Export Processing Zones (EPZ). Economic, cultural and sexual exploitation of women is a serious problem in this area. At the same time, these women’s income has often been a crucial support for their families. In India, largely self-reliant industrial development has come a long way. However, it has not sufficiently benefited the three quarters of the population living in the countryside. The development of the cities has been at the cost of the peasantry and landless laborers and women. The present policies of industrialization in South Asia are attempts to catch up with the world market. They erode the sovereignty of our governments and impose conditions which squeeze the poor and affect the quality of life. This development is also becoming more and more ecologically damaging.

      Under the impact of the ecological crisis, new criteria may have to be developed. Not every new production that created workplaces can be hailed as beneficial. Industrial production needs to be evaluated according to certain criteria. In some places, industries have been closed down due to public interest litigation because of environmental pollution and effects on the livelihood of other sections of the population. We will have to ask questions such as: 1) How does the industry affect resources: raw materials, land, water? 2) Are the products useful and durable? 3) Does the product encourage blind consumerism? 4) How are workers’ rights dealt with in the industry? 5) How does the production affect other people’s livelihood?

      In the present situation where energy and resource use become ecologically problematic, mineral resources will have to be substituted by biomass. This will require more decentralized production. It is not fully visible which new models of industrialization will emerge in the process. As such, new industries will have to evolve together with alternative energy use and development of new biomass based raw materials. It is likely that side by side with a decentralized approach, certain goods will have to be produced at intermediary and central levels. Today, experiences of workers taking over sick industries and recuperating them will be important for acquiring managing skills for the future.

     To sum up, we have to safeguard a viable subsistence production which caters to the survival needs of the masses. Only this can be the base for any further production. It is an unresolved question how sections addicted to consumer standards which are ecologically damaging can be converted to more simple life-styles. This will require new social relationships in which meaning can be derived more from Being than from Having. At the same time, this may open up spaces for creativity and fulfilling human interaction. A new relationship between work and leisure may emerge and our relationship to time may once again be transformed.

Social Restructuring

      In the social field, the Western development model has sharpened class contradictions. It has also led to rapid erosion of traditional structures. While this has opened spaces for some basic freedoms for the individual and up to a point for human rights, traditional structures of support and solidarity have been destroyed and in the so-called “developed” strata we get problems similar to those in the West, namely, the instability of the family, discrimination against the old and the inability to welcome children. In the so-called under-developed sections, authoritarian, patriarchal structures of family, caste and commu­nity are reinforced in the scramble for scarce resources. This leads to atrocious expressions of violence like female infanticide, use of amniocentesis for aborting female babies, dowry deaths, trade in women and children, sex tourism, migrant labor, caste clashes and communal carnage. Economic deprivation also gets mingled with cultural loss of identity, aggravating the social convulsions.

      In this situation, respect for cultural identities has to be developed while at the same time new social movements (of women, dalits, ecology, etc.) and social movement unions (especially in the informal sector) will be crucial in creating new social cohesion and new identities. The challenge is to build personhood in community and to develop an anthropology which redefines the human. In this context, we have to acknowledge that the production of life has been traditionally in the hands of women, peasants and enslaved communities while exploitation of profit has been the prerogative of male patriarchal elites. Production of life at the center will, therefore, require a new sexual division of labor and the participation of all the marginalized sectors in spelling out and implementing the new development concept. People’s movements as new intermediary structures between the individual, the family and the state are crucial new social forces which need to be supported and strengthened. Such movements will have to work out the balance between human rights, social obligations and concern for the whole. Concern for the whole implies responsibility to future generations. We are answerable to them for our use of resources and for the safety of our technologies which may have long term effects. The consumerism of present generations needs to be critiqued in this light.

Political Structures

      It is obvious that this also requires new structures of political participation. At the global level, there has been a claim which connects capitalism with democracy. This claim is highly dubious if one takes into consideration the kind of totalitarian regimes which the United States has been sponsoring all over the globe. In some countries of Asia, successful capitalism has been promoted by highly authoritarian regimes which have curtailed and often severely violated basic human rights. Yet, autocratic rule in itself has also not been a guarantee for success in capitalist development as the Philippines experiment under Marcos has shown. At the same time, Asian socialist countries have also not provided structures in which people’s participation and creativity were encouraged. On the contrary, deviation from the “official party” line has been severely punished.

      We, therefore, affirm that the Third World will need to strive for a Third Way which, however, takes seriously the socialist attempt to provide for the basic needs of the masses. However, we question the approach of fulfilling basic needs by imposing autocratic controls. The answer to the quest for political participation may not lie so much in a mere multiparty system as in the organization of different sectors in social movement unions and people’s movements with women playing a prominent role. The need to create alternative circuits of production and distribution, which are ecologically viable, will also help to evolve structures of participation which have not so far been available in either capitalist or socialist economies.

      Such organizations will have to provide representation at local, state and national levels. At the same time, we also need to build regional and global structures of solidarity between people’s movements which will counteract the disastrous policies imposed by national governments in collusion with indigenous business elites, multinational corporations and international monetary institutions. Regional / international organizations will have to be made answerable to such networks of people’s organizations across national boundaries.

3. The Crisis Of Asian Cultures

       With rapid modernization sweeping across Asia, many cultures are in crisis as people seek to cope with changing situations. Often, problems arise because traditional cultures are ignored in existing models for economic growth where the over-riding concern is profit instead of the sustenance of life. In many ways, the financial steamroller is running early cultural traditions into the ground.

       Modern cultural values imposed from the outside are increasingly replacing traditional cultural values. There are often cases where core spiritual values, such as the Buddhist concept of harmony, are co-opted for political purposes. Sometimes, the concept is used to impose discipline and unquestioning authority as governments single-mindedly pursue economic growth at all costs.

       Once the cradle of great religious and cultural traditions, Asia is suffering from modernization. Emerging trends are alarming. Breakthroughs in technology have brought in a wide array of products that have resulted in the change from a simple to a more materialistic lifestyle with the inevitable rise of consumer societies. At the same time, a widening gap between the rich and the poor has led to dehumanizing poverty for many peoples, in contrast to the stated aim of economic growth which is supposedly to eradicate poverty.

       Much of the impact of modernization is common to all, including those affecting indigenous cultures, youth, women, and families. Media, one of the expressions of culture, is also affected.

       The indigenous cultures of tribal minorities, whose influence has already been diminished by dominant cultures in each country, are eroded even more or disappear altogether with the imposition of foreign cultures. In some villages where indigenous cultures are built around dependence on and reverence for nature, tribes are unable to survive due to the plunder of their resource base. There are instances of manipulation and contempt for indigenous cultures. Examples of these include Thailand, where missionaries cut down trees in the “special places” set aside by tribal communities for their gods, and the Philippines, where government agencies pit tribal groups against each other to get energy projects going.

      Youth are experiencing more stress as the “achievement” mentality is foisted on them. Competition in the field of education has led to suicides in the more industrialized nations of Asia. In some sub-regions, there is inequality in the system with affluent students going to better universities while poor students are left to state-run schools where standards are poor. In the face of tension, many young people resort to drugs or juvenile crimes as a form of counter-culturalism.

       Frustration over the increasing demands of society is seen as one of the major causes of break-ups and violence in the family. The inability to cope with rising expectations has led to tension and misunderstanding. Family ties are broken as a result of these tensions.

      While often discussed in terms of their relations to families, the role of women is a larger issue which covers all aspects of life. In the realm of cultural change, women are still victims of social structures which continue to relegate them to the background. Worse, traditional cultural violence has sometimes merged with modern cultural violence to the detriment of women. In India, for example, female children are getting killed at an alarming rate, sometimes by their own mothers, because they are seen as economic burdens to their families. This is due to the continued practice of outlawed traditions such as the giving of dowries which discriminate against women.

      The media is no longer used mainly for communication, but also as a form of social conditioning. During the Gulf War, for instance, television coverage showcased an arms bazaar and not the death of human beings, thereby sanitizing the horrors of war.

       Parallel to these common effects are the impact on specific sub-regions like East Asia which includes Japan, Taiwan, Korea and Hong Kong, where economies have grown tremendously. The drive to modernize in these countries is seen as a result of their “history of humiliation” and hence, the need to restore national pride. In a rapidly changing world, modernization became a matter of survival and also a means for fending off intrusion by superpowers.

      But East Asia’s development entailed huge costs in terms of culture and society. Their peoples are suffering an identity crisis and a feeling of “rootlessness” with the new cultural model that has emerged in their nations. In Taiwan, this model combines elements from mainland China, Japan and the United States. In Japan, a New Culture has forced many people to give up the traditional for the assimilation of the modern, or to use cultural traditions like zen to impose modern values such as work efficiency. More and more, the question is often asked, who are we?

       Specifically, changes in East Asian cultural values to modern values include the following:

·       from detachment to materialism and consumerism

·       from harmony to violence and competition

·       from close family ties to divorce

·       from good human relations to dishonesty

·       from submissiveness to independence and participation

·       from diligence, esteem for education and discipline to instant culture, lack of vision and long- 

     term perspective.

       Many peoples of Asia are gripped by fear and uncertainty due to these cultural changes. For some countries divided by political conflicts and colonization in the past, there is a dilemma between independence and unification. For others, the problem is how to merge beneficial cultural traditions with modern values. There is also a need to transform negative traits in Asian cultures such as hero worship, fundamentalism, exclusivism, sexual discrimination, the caste system and fatalism.

       The challenge for the peoples of Asia is how to humanize modern systems and respond positively to the cultural crisis in their midst. There are several solutions proposed:

·       develop a “pluriform” culture that is dynamic, creative, and affirms marginal cultures; this is

     to counteract a dominant elite culture linked to ruling powers;

·       dismantle hierarchy and patriarchy; develop a new anthropology that is anti-patriarchal and

     ecologically-integral;

·       develop an ideological critique of culture;

·       transform power from a tool of oppression and domination to a mechanism for people to gain

     liberation, humanization, and basic dignity; for agents of social change, a combination of

     people’s empowerment and spirituality is needed to make them effective and prevent them

     from falling into their own contradictions.

·       Promote positive elements of traditional cultures such as:

-     freedom from desire (Buddhism);

-     non-attachment and non-individualism (Buddhism/Hinduism);

-     cosmic religiosity of tribal communities which is open to nature, the feminine, and

      inclusive (as opposed to exclusive);

-     yin and yang (Taoist) to maintain uniqueness of each being; while remaining one with the

       cosmos;

-     harmony and peace (Shanti in Buddhism/Hinduism);

-     tolerance and hospitality;

-     faithfulness in keeping covenants;

-     recognizing sacredness and interconnectedness of life (e.g. life = existence, in

      Buddhism);

-     community sharing as seen in the bayanihan spirit in the Philippines, gutong royon in

      Malay culture, and long kheak in Thailand and festivals of Asia;

-     combine appropriate modern techologies with traditional systems for sustainable

      development of resources;

-     solidarity and dialogue of life; unite around a common commitment for promoting basic

      human communities;

-     adopt simple lifestyle.

      Many of these steps transcend boundaries and lead to a globalization of culture as a way of responding to the crisis people are facing today.

      As one of the producers of culture in Asia, particularly Buddhism, Islam and Hinduism, religion plays a vital role in the way responses to the crisis in cultures are shaped. Historically, religion has played an ambiguous role with regard to culture. Christianity, for example, was a form of cultural domination introduced through colonialism. Church institutions have supported cultural change, and are sometimes used to legitimize existing cultural and social structures. In East Asia, religion has been downgraded to utilitarian uses. A different concept of religion may well emerge as people strive for a meaningful peace (shanti) in the face of the cultural crisis in Asia.

4. Responding To The Issues

The Role Of Religion And Theology

      In the task of transforming society through a new model of integral human and social development and through the promotion of common human and spiritual values as well as of rightful obligations, authentic religion should be a source of inspiration and motivation by providing vision and hope, challenge and dynamism in the context of the Ultimate or God.

      True religion facilitates an ongoing dialogue between God (or the Ultimate) and the human person-in-community in the context of history. The Word of God (or the Ultimate Perspective) is calling people to a conversion that is a turning away from sin and injustice and a moving towards the building up of a new humanity and a new world. People respond to this call in faith and through a commitment to transform themselves and to build up a community of freedom, solidarity, justice and peace, proclaimed as the Reign of God by Jesus. An Asian theology and an Asian spirituality will be the fruits of such a dialogue in Asia.

       The context and the starting point of this ongoing salvific dialogue are the struggles of the poor and the marginalized in whom the challenges of the Word of God become concrete and manifest in the process of history. Specific elements of these struggles in Asia are the multi-religious character of our communities, a secularizing technological modernity and an Asian cosmic religiosity.

      Asia has been the cradle of the World’s Great Religions, including Christianity. But underlying these developed and structural religions is a cosmic religiosity, which considers reality and life as sacred, promotes a harmonious relationship to nature, balances the masculine and the feminine, integrating order with the creative and the contemplative dimensions of life, and is tolerant and inclusive, conserving the living dynamism of the Yin and the Yang. However, cosmic religiosity is also characterized by animistic beliefs, un­named fears and security-seeking ritual. We need to rediscover, purify, affirm and promote the positive aspects of the cosmic religiosity of Asia and integrate it with our own faith perspective, because this is the spirituality of the people and of the poor as well as of our own roots as Asians.

      The Great Religions developed further and sharpened some of these values, which are relevant to our quest for a new transformative spirituality for Asia. A few of these could be indicated here. There is a search for integrity, wholeness and harmony, seen as a unity-in-multiplicity and as a dynamic equilibrium of poles in creative tension, the Yin and the Yang. An attitude of tolerance based on such an approach can be creative and dynamic. Harmony then becomes a horizon of one’s efforts and not a static possession.

       Asian cultures and religions have a great respect for all forms of life. Such respect translates into an attitude of creative non-violence, that can become even a political plan of action. The positive aspect of non-violence is a self sacrificing love of the other that acquires a special depth in the mystery of the cross and becomes life-bearing in the hope of the Resurrection to new life. 

      Asia stresses a spirit of detachment that cultivates an attitude of non-acquisitiveness which could be an antidote to consumeristic individualism and an aid in promoting a sense of the other and of community.

      One finds in Asia a sense of fellowship in relationship so that belongingness to a family or group strengthens community.

      The Orient is also known for its techniques and experiences that promote a spirit of interiority and contemplation which lead to personal and social integration.

       We are aware that these values and strengths may be exaggerated into liabilities and that they often remain ideals we pursue rather than aspects of our praxis. But such draw­backs do not make them less real and less worthy of our search and earnest efforts towards realization. Such a tension between ideal and praxis draws our attention to the ambiguities of religion as we experience it in Asia.

    Every charism tends to get institutionalized in the course of history. A certain institutionalization is useful and necessary, but it also often leads to rigidity, stagnation, lack of dynamism and the emergence of the structures of power and domination in place of the original structures of communion. In this process, patriarchal domination of and discrimination against women seem to emerge. The experience and struggles of the poor and the marginalized remain a constant source of prophecy that keeps urging us on to a collective repentance and a continuing self-critique and renewal. While we leave such a prophetic critique of other religions to other believers, we affirm the need for us Christians to go back constantly to our Scriptures and our origins and to re-read and interpret them in the context of today, particularly of the poor and the marginalized to whom particularly the Word of God is proclaimed by Jesus. Jesus manifested God’s loving concern for them in word and deed. In his death and resurrection, he becomes the sacrament of God’s saving love. The mystery of Christ reaches out to all. Do we, Christians, tend to make it our exclusive possession? Jesus came as a suffering servant identifying himself with the oppressed. Have we, His disciples, turned Him into a symbol of power and domination?

     Another way in which religion can become alienating is by becoming other-worldly and ritualistic. It may then meet the superficial psychological needs of the people, but not really effect any transformation, either individual or social. We can counter such an alienating process of religion by promoting an authentic and conscious religiosity that rises out of and relates to life-experience and at the same time is oriented to life transformation.

      Science and technology can be an aid in maximizing production and promoting development. They can also have a welcome secularizing effect in so far as they promote a certain autonomy of the human and purify popular religiosity. But technological modernity may lead, on the one hand, to the privatization of religion and, on the other, to its instrumentalization for economic and political purposes. Against this tendency, we have to affirm the primacy of the human and the spiritual in the context of a harmonious and integral development.

      It is such an abuse of religion for economic and political purposes by the elites in power that leads to communal conflicts among groups of people in the name of religion. Sometimes, the religious leaders themselves use the deep attachment of believers as a base for promoting their personal power. Sometimes, religious emotions are used as an instrument through which a majority seek to oppress and obtain hegemonic control over the minorities. Such abuses often take structural and institutional forms. The close relationship between religion and culture make the situation very complex. Some political parties may turn religion itself into an ideology in the pursuit of power and control.

       It is in this context that the inter-religious reality of Asia becomes a problem. The normal difference between religions as systems of beliefs, values and practices are further strengthened by being made tools in the hand of fundamentalists and the economic and political elite. We have to approach this problem in a two-fold but related manner. First, on the economic and political level, we have to promote a sense of democracy and participation in which the person-in-community is seen as the subject of rights and obligations, irrespective of further categorization in terms of ethnicity, caste, language, gender or religion. We need to develop a secular outlook that is respectful of, but transcends re­ligious differences.

      Second, at the strictly religious level we need to promote dialogue and collaboration in a common commitment to social transformation and development. Different religious believers discover their community in their collective pursuit of common human and spiritual values in an effort to promote justice, fellowship and peace. This is manifested primarily in the dialogue of life and of common action for social transformation. Such community is nourished and strengthened by a dialogue at spiritual and theological lev­els through a common reading and interpretation of and reflection over the Scriptures and other sources; in the context of the contemporary situation through common prayer and common celebration of significant moments in personal and community life. Such solidarity is even more urgent among the different Christian churches in Asia. Our call by Jesus to a common mission leads us to an active collaboration in a shared service to the Reign of God. It is heartening to note such ecumenical partnership in many places in Asia. This means that we must cultivate among all believers a strong sense of their identity and rootedness in their own faith with, and at the same time, an openness which is attentive and listening to God who is reaching out to us through the other.

       Our desire to collaborate in the building up of a new humanity reaches beyond believers to all people of good will, some of whom may not belong to any particular religion. It is a fact that all religions and ideologies agree in pursuing the goal of liberation, though they may differ in spelling out its characteristics and implications. But the basis of unity remains a common commitment to the promotion of solidarity, justice and peace. Such an open perspective, as well as our experience in many parts of Asia suggests the need to foster Basic Human Communities at the grassroots level. These, however, need not be seen as a substitute for the Basic Christian Communities. All of us belong to various communities in life. At the religious level, in a multi-religious situation, there will be a tension between affirming and celebrating one’s identity as a believer and engaging in social transformation as a member of a broader human community. The two relationships should be mutually supportive since their objectives are different and converging. Any tension must be creative of community.

      It is in the process of such dialogue and collaboration with all people of good will in the promotion of a new humanity that our social thought becomes really Catholic or global. A common social thought arises out of a common social living and a common commitment to social transformation.

The Role Of The Church

      In a spirit of dialogue with the people and society of Asia and its culture and religion, we regard the Church’s role as a partner and collaborator as well as companion of Asian people along the path of our struggle for the creation of a new vision, new society and new identity. The Church can render Asian people a great service by promoting ideas and social, political structures which calls for participation from every sector of the society.

       Faithful to our mission received from Christ, the Prince of Peace, we are called to face and confront the realities of plurality, division, conflicts and violence which characterized present-day Asia. In line with the Church’s role as the sacrament of redemption, we are called to bring healing and consolation to Asian people who suffer as a result of distorted value system which often lie behind structures of domination, dishonest practices as well as fierce competition. As Christians, we are called to that prophetic role based on the Gospel for the conversion of the human heart as well as the transformation

        In an age of growing consumerism, materialism, secularization and dehumanization which is the result of the developmental model pursued in various countries of the region, the Church is called to give witness to transcendental values which are rooted in our rich common Asian cultural heritage as well as in our Christian faith. The Church advocates integral development for all.

Concerns Calling For Attention In The Churches Of Asia

    We admit that, in general, Catholic churches in Asia generally have the following characteristics:

1.     They don’t share the aspirations of the people, particularly the poor and he marginalized; and remain largely apathetic to the struggles of the people;

2.     Church leaders relate harmoniously with the ruling elite, and share their views on many important social and political issues;

3.     Many Church leaders are ideologically biased on the side of capitalism, suspicious and hostile towards socialism.

Perspective

It is our view that:

1.     Catholic social thought (CST) in Asia must be developed from the perspective of the poor and the marginalized of Asia;

2.     The major concern of the CST must not be the conversion of Asian peoples to Christianity. Its major concern is rather to respond, and contribute to people’s struggles in Asia for a better and fuller life.

Methodology

We share the understanding that:

1.     As an integral part of the efforts of the Churches’ mission in Asia, Asian CST is not primarily an application of CST coming from Rome. While keeping in communion with Churches of other continents, and with Rome, the major task of CST in Asia is to respond to our specific social realities in Asia.

2.     Our CST in Asia must be rooted in a praxis and a social analysis that keeps in dialectic tension the micro and the macro, the local and the global, the inductive and the deductive, the cultural and the biblical dimensions.

Content

We agree that CST in Asia must address the following concerns:

1.    Establish the intimate link between the secular and the sacred.

CST in Asia needs to encourage secular concerns to find their rightful place inside the Church; encourage Christians to find their rightful position as citizens, and the Church to find and exercise its civil status in society. It must make clear to all, particularly to our own Christians, that the sacred and the secular must meet, in order for redemption to take place.

2.   Address directly major issues of concern to   the people.

As we struggle together with our peoples for a fuller life, CST should help clarify the meaning of our struggles, and demonstrate support. CST should also invite our peoples in Asia to go beyond what we are seeking; to submit ourselves to higher values rooted in our cultures, religions and ideologies, and in the biblical tradition, to become more human.

3.    Address particularly the issue of ideology, not allowing the gospel to be contained and curtailed by any ideological system.

       CST in Asia must honestly face the challenge of the gospel particularly in regard to issues of burning concern in Asia, including lack of basic human rights, poverty, marginalization of women and children, violence, and the destruction of the environment.

4.   Identify in our people’s struggles elements that motivate and empower them.

There is a need for the CST to identify all efforts coming from different quarters that contribute to the building of a just and humane society in Asia. It must show appreciation of these elements and efforts, and embrace them as signs of redemption.

5.   Call to conversion.

CST in Asia must direct its attention to our own Christians and Christian communities, inviting them to enter the process of conversion, and to become tangible and visible signs of redemption; redeemed from the enslavement to greed and domination, and from the bondage to fear, isolation and powerlessness.

cover l editorial l chapter 1 l 2 l 3 l 4 l 5 l 6 l 7 l 8 l 9 l 10 l