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Contesting the ‘Promotion’ and ‘Protection’ of Human Rights: A Critical Understanding of the ASEAN–EU Relationship through Representational Force

Jamie Stacey Orcid Logo

Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs, Volume: 42, Issue: 1, Pages: 3 - 24

Swansea University Author: Jamie Stacey Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1177/18681034221134306

Abstract

How do we explain ASEAN – a non-western, traditionally ‘weak’ actor – and the degree to which it has successfully co-opted the EU into accepting its approach to human rights? This article considers the question of human rights in the ASEAN–EU relationship. It does so by reappraising the literature o...

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Published in: Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs
ISSN: 1868-1034 1868-4882
Published: SAGE Publications 2023
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa67688
Abstract: How do we explain ASEAN – a non-western, traditionally ‘weak’ actor – and the degree to which it has successfully co-opted the EU into accepting its approach to human rights? This article considers the question of human rights in the ASEAN–EU relationship. It does so by reappraising the literature on constructivism and comparative regionalism, embracing the move beyond norm diffusion and Europe to norm contestation and local actors, namely ASEAN. Building on the literature of contestation, it operationalises Mattern's model of Representational Force to analyse the case study of the ASEAN–EU relationship from the 1990s to the establishment of AICHR in 2009 and beyond where we can see contestation in action. Interestingly, through the contestation over the ‘promotion’ and ‘protection’ of human rights, there is significant scope to see how it is ASEAN that has largely co-opted the EU into supporting a uniquely ‘ASEAN’ approach to human rights in Southeast Asia.
Keywords: ASEAN; ASEAN–EU relations; critical constructivism; human rights; representational force
College: Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
Funders: The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Issue: 1
Start Page: 3
End Page: 24

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