Ritual and Region: The Invention of ASEAN [Paperback]

Argues that ASEAN endures as it serves state interest through the creation of a shared ritual and symbolic framework.Explores why ASEAN has endured and why members, many of whom remain comparatively weak and poor, continue to invest in the regional project. Argues that ASEAN has and continues to serve state interest through the creation of a shared ritual and symbolic framework.Explores why ASEAN has endured and why members, many of whom remain comparatively weak and poor, continue to invest in the regional project. Argues that ASEAN has and continues to serve state interest through the creation of a shared ritual and symbolic framework.Why has ASEAN endured and why do members, many of whom remain comparatively weak and poor, continue to invest in the regional project? Existing answers, either that ASEAN is meaningless or that it has transformed regional affairs through the creation of shared values are both misplaced. Neither argument is empirically plausible. Instead, this Element argues that ASEAN has and continues to serve state interest through the creation of a shared ritual and symbolic framework. This framework has mitigated regional tension through the performance of regionalism, but has not fundamentally addressed the sources of that tension.1. Introduction; 2. Inventing ASEAN  19451997; 3. Saving regionalism  19972017; 4. Choosing regionalism.