ASEAN's Engagement of Civil Society Regulating Dissent [Hardcover]

This book offers an innovative framework for understanding the role of civil society in regional and global policymaking. Using political economy analysis, Gerard demonstrates that ASEAN's people-oriented agenda builds legitimacy, while sidelining its detractors.1. A 'People-Oriented' ASEAN? 2. Civil Society Consultations: Explaining Why and How 3. ASEAN and Associational Life in Southeast Asia 4. Civil Society Participation in Spaces Established by ASEAN 5. Civil Society Participation in Spaces Recognized by ASEAN 6. Civil Society Participation in 'Created Spaces' 7. Engaging Civil Society and Regulating Dissent

In this timely, rigorously researched and theoretically informed work, Kelly Gerard analyses ASEAN's engagement with regional civil society, going beyond current writings that uncritically laud that engagement as indicative of progress towards participatory regionalism or simply dismiss such engagement as mere window dressing. Using Kanishka Jayasuriya and Garry Rodan's 'mode of political participation' approach that usefully distinguishes between participation, representation and contestation, the book confirms the rhetorical nature of ASEAN's engagement with civil society and, importantly, tells us why and how this has been accomplished. It is valuable reading for all those interested in understanding the intricacies and intrigues involved in ASEAN's journey towards participatory regionalism. - Helen E S Nesadurai, Monash University, Malaysia Campus

A much-needed addition to the current literature on ASEAN, bringing into focus the significant relationships that ASEAN has fostered with civil society organizations in recent years. The book is a compelling case study of the inherent conservatism of ASEAN's engagements with civil society. Kelly Gerard deftly and rigorously exposes how rhetorical commitments to a more 'people oriented' ASEAN mask the extent to which engagements with civil society serve to legitimize the projects ofl“‘