THE CULTURE OF POLITICAL ECONOMY,

OR

THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF CULTURE

The Constitution of Cultural Diversity in Southeast The Constitution of Cultural Diversity in Southeast Asian Development StrategiesAsian Development Strategies

(A RESEARCH AND ADVOCACY AGENDA)(A RESEARCH AND ADVOCACY AGENDA)

THE CULTURE OF POLITICAL ECONOMY,

OR

THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF CULTURE

The Constitution of Cultural Diversity in Southeast The Constitution of Cultural Diversity in Southeast Asian Development StrategiesAsian Development Strategies

(A RESEARCH AND ADVOCACY AGENDA)(A RESEARCH AND ADVOCACY AGENDA)Bonn Juego

PhD FellowGlobal Development StudiesAalborg University, Denmark

E-mail: bonn@ihis.aau.dk

30 April 200955 Bandung 55 ConferenceJakarta, Indonesia

Bonn JuegoPhD Fellow

Global Development StudiesAalborg University, Denmark

E-mail: bonn@ihis.aau.dk

30 April 200955 Bandung 55 ConferenceJakarta, Indonesia

RESEARCH PROBLEMRESEARCH PROBLEMRESEARCH PROBLEMRESEARCH PROBLEM

How is cultural diversity How is cultural diversity constituted in the domestic constituted in the domestic

development strategies of the development strategies of the Philippines, Malaysia, and Philippines, Malaysia, and

Singapore?Singapore?

WHY?WHY?

How is cultural diversity How is cultural diversity constituted in the domestic constituted in the domestic

development strategies of the development strategies of the Philippines, Malaysia, and Philippines, Malaysia, and

Singapore?Singapore?

WHY?WHY?

OPERATIONALISATIONOPERATIONALISATIONOPERATIONALISATIONOPERATIONALISATION

Cultural DiversityCultural Diversity

PluralityPlurality

of shared identities,of shared identities,

of groups of peopleof groups of people

with shared culture,with shared culture,

making up a societymaking up a society

Cultural DiversityCultural Diversity

PluralityPlurality

of shared identities,of shared identities,

of groups of peopleof groups of people

with shared culture,with shared culture,

making up a societymaking up a society

OPERATIONALISATIONOPERATIONALISATIONOPERATIONALISATIONOPERATIONALISATION

Constitution of Cultural DiversityConstitution of Cultural Diversity(How is cultural diversity constituted?)

Gramsci (1971) – Formation of new social regime:

either “ORGANIC”,

or “ARBITRARY, RATIONALISTIC, AND WILLED”

Depending on the regime's success/failure to realiseDepending on the regime's success/failure to realise““STRUCTURED COHERENCE”STRUCTURED COHERENCE” among among'the political''the political', , 'the economic''the economic', and , and 'the cultural''the cultural'

Constitution of Cultural DiversityConstitution of Cultural Diversity(How is cultural diversity constituted?)

Gramsci (1971) – Formation of new social regime:

either “ORGANIC”,

or “ARBITRARY, RATIONALISTIC, AND WILLED”

Depending on the regime's success/failure to realiseDepending on the regime's success/failure to realise““STRUCTURED COHERENCE”STRUCTURED COHERENCE” among among'the political''the political', , 'the economic''the economic', and , and 'the cultural''the cultural'

HYPOTHESISHYPOTHESISHYPOTHESISHYPOTHESIS

Culture of Political Economy, orCulture of Political Economy, orthe Political Economy of Culture?the Political Economy of Culture?

The drive for global capitalist The drive for global capitalist competitivenesscompetitiveness

transcendstranscendsthe nature of cultural diversity.the nature of cultural diversity.

(Capitalism can exist with or without cultural diversity.)

Culture of Political Economy, orCulture of Political Economy, orthe Political Economy of Culture?the Political Economy of Culture?

The drive for global capitalist The drive for global capitalist competitivenesscompetitiveness

transcendstranscendsthe nature of cultural diversity.the nature of cultural diversity.

(Capitalism can exist with or without cultural diversity.)

Washington ConsensusWashington Consensus(1st Generation Neo-liberal Reforms, 1980s - mid-1990’s)

Scope:Scope: Limited macroeconomic policies

Goal:Goal: ‘open market economy’

Approach:Approach: ‘shock’ tactics; ‘sound macroeconomic principles’

• SAPs (privatisation, deregulation, liberalisation, etc)

• Rollback of the state

SCOPESCOPE

Post-1997 Southeast AsiaPost-1997 Southeast AsiaGlobal Political Economy of Development, 1980s - 2009

((General Characteristics)

Post-Washington ConsensusPost-Washington Consensus(2nd Generation Neo-liberal Reforms,

mid-1990’s - 2009)

Scope: Scope: broader, more extensive and intrusive policies

Goal:Goal: ‘global competitiveness’

Approach: Approach: ‘deep’ institutional and behavioural/cultural change

• ‘flexible’ labour, ‘human capital’

• ‘social capital’: non-market responses to market imperfections

Post-Washington ConsensusPost-Washington Consensus(2nd Generation Neo-liberal Reforms,

mid-1990’s - 2009)

Scope: Scope: broader, more extensive and intrusive policies

Goal:Goal: ‘global competitiveness’

Approach: Approach: ‘deep’ institutional and behavioural/cultural change

• ‘flexible’ labour, ‘human capital’

• ‘social capital’: non-market responses to market imperfections

Diverse Southeast Asian Cases:Diverse Southeast Asian Cases:Philippines, Malaysia, SingaporePhilippines, Malaysia, Singapore

General Characteristics of Social Relations in Globalising Southeast AsiaSociety ‘The Political’

(State Form)‘The Economic’

(Economic Policies)‘The Cultural’

(Cultural Diversity)Philippines Neo-liberal Market-led, service-

oriented, and partiallyagricultural

Homogenous (with peoplesacknowledging one Filipinorace); cultural diversity basedlargely on linguistic localesand religion)

Malaysia Neo-statist Focus on manufacturingand services

Heterogeneous; internaldiversity with three majorraces: Malay, Chinese, andIndian

Singapore Neo-corporatist Strong manufacturingsector and knowledge-intensive services

Largely homogenous, yetincreasingly becomingheterogeneous with theincorporation of foreignworkers

Diverse Social Relations in Southeast AsiaDiverse Social Relations in Southeast AsiaDiverse Diverse PoliticalPolitical Regimes, Regimes, EconomicEconomic Structures, and Structures, and CulturalCultural

OrientationsOrientations

Diverse Social Relations in Southeast AsiaDiverse Social Relations in Southeast AsiaDiverse Diverse PoliticalPolitical Regimes, Regimes, EconomicEconomic Structures, and Structures, and CulturalCultural

OrientationsOrientations

LITERATURES ON CULTURAL DIVERSITYLITERATURES ON CULTURAL DIVERSITY

Business Studies

Causality between:

Culturally-diverse workforce; and

Firm's organisation, behaviour, performance

GAP

Theory of the firm No such thing as

“representative firm”

Focus on factors exogenous to firms

Evolutionary EconomicsEvolutionary Economics

National Systems of Innovation (NSI) Approaches

Freeman-Lundvall-Nelson: focus on developed, relatively homogenous, Scandinavian societies

GAP

Explore idea of 'tacit knowledge'

culture and cultural diversity for Third World development

Social sciences andSocial sciences and

economicseconomics

Discursive• “culturalisation of economic

life”• “cultural materialism”

Reification of the market Abstraction of the economy

into mathematical calculations

GAP

Context-specific phenomena;

Ideational-Material nexus

(International) Political(International) Political

EconomyEconomy

Aglietta-Lipietz-Boyer: “French Régulation Approach”

US & Europe (Atlantic Fordism);

Latin America ('populist' ISI);

East Asia (developmental state)

Post-régulation approach

“transnational state”: outside-in approach

GAP

Dynamism and specificity of Southeast Asia

Internal reorganisation of the state

Regional and intra-regional variation in a broadly comparative framework

CONSTITUTIVE Discourse:CONSTITUTIVE Discourse:Culture Culture inin Political Economy of Development Political Economy of Development

““The central conservative truth is that it is culture, not politics, that determines the The central conservative truth is that it is culture, not politics, that determines the success of a society. The central liberal truth is that politics can change a culture and success of a society. The central liberal truth is that politics can change a culture and

save it from itself.”save it from itself.”

(Daniel Patrick Moynihan)

““Asian Values” and Development:Asian Values” and Development:A Constitutive Dominant DiscourseA Constitutive Dominant Discourse

CONTEXT CONTENT CRITIQUE

_ 'East Asian Miracle':rapid growth withequity thru stateintervention

_ HPAE, NICs

_ Proponents: formerstate leaders of (semi)-authoritarian regimes

_ Mahathir binMohamad (MY)

_ Lee Kuan Yew (SG)_ Le Peng (CN)

_ An Asian thing_ A culturally-based

'given' that cannot bewished away

1. acceptance of hierarchyand the need for socialharmony

2. respect and reverencefor family

3. benevolence ingovernment

_ Conceptually false

_ diversity of cultures,traditions, religions,and histories in Asia

_ Politically suspicious

_ justification forauthoritarianism

_ Economically bad

_ Resulted in the 1997Asian economiccrisis

NORMATIVE Discourse:NORMATIVE Discourse:Culture Culture forfor Political Economy of Development Political Economy of Development

Amartya Sen: “Development as freedom”

Culture is among development's ends and

means.

Culture is development; and development is culture.

As means: Using culture for development because of its considerable importance.

As ends: Culture as an expression of the 'good life'.

Culture in Contemporary Development Culture in Contemporary Development StrategiesStrategies

Aalborg School: 'learning economy' – tacit knowledge (Bengt-Åke Lundvall, et al.)

National Systems of Innovation

Culture embodies 'tacit knowledge'.

'tacit knowledge': 'know-how' (skills) embedded in culture – difficult to transmit, cannot be codified, or written down

Culture as source of 'Competitive Advantage' (Michael Porter, et al.)

Globalisation: allows sourcing from anywhere

'Economic culture': hard-to-imitate competitive advantage (a niche market)

Cultural differences give rise to distinctive product and services (international specialisation)

RESEARCH OBJECTIVESRESEARCH OBJECTIVES

To examine the constitutive role of cultural To examine the constitutive role of cultural diversity in development strategiesdiversity in development strategies

1. 1. co-evolutionco-evolution of the of the ideationalideational and and materialmaterial aspects aspects intrinsic in the development processintrinsic in the development process

Overcoming reductionism or essentialism

2. cultural diversity in the political economy of 2. cultural diversity in the political economy of development and the development and the specificityspecificity of the Southeast of the Southeast Asian regionAsian region

Highlighting factors, phenomena, processes left unstated, repressed, and marginalised in official dominant discourses

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKTHEORETICAL FRAMEWORKCPE + EDECPE + EDE

Critical Political EconomyCritical Political Economy

Development as a “social relation” – both “ideational” and “material”

SOCIAL RELATIONSSOCIAL RELATIONS:: ‘the political’, ‘the economic’, ‘the cultural’, ‘the ecological’, ‘the gender’, and all the other spheres of the society are organically connected to, not separate from, one another

Evolutionary Development EconomicsEvolutionary Development Economics

non-equilibrium, non-physics based, and non-mathematical approach to economic phenomena

focus on the economy, and not economics

‘social variables’ (state, culture, civil society, values, etc.) excluded in mainstream economics

CPE + EDECPE + EDE::

Cultural diversity in the development strategies of the Philippines, Cultural diversity in the development strategies of the Philippines, Malaysia, and Singapore across time and spaceMalaysia, and Singapore across time and space

Differences and specificities in national situations in particular historical moment in the context of social relations

METHODOLOGYMETHODOLOGYCulture of political economy,Culture of political economy,

or Political Economy of culture?or Political Economy of culture?

Social regime: either ‘organic’, orSocial regime: either ‘organic’, or

‘‘arbitrary, rationalistic, and willed’arbitrary, rationalistic, and willed’

Culture of political economy (organic) Political Economy of culture (willed)

Extensive reference

Official documents and development plans: Philippines, Malaysia, and Singapore (post-1997 crisis)

Policy papers and reports: Multilateral institutions and regional associations - WB, IMF, WTO, UN, ADB, APEC, ASEAN

domestic social forces in policy advice and policy-making

PRELIMINARIES: (Culture & Capitalist PRELIMINARIES: (Culture & Capitalist Development)Development)

UNESCOUNESCOUniversal Declaration on Cultural Diversity (2001)Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity (2001)

Art. 3: Cultural diversity as a factor in development

“Cultural diversity widens the range of options open to everyone; it is one of the roots of development,

understood not simply in terms of economic growth, but also as a

means to achieve a more satisfactory intellectual, emotional,

moral and spiritual existence.”

Art. 8: Cultural goods and services: commodities of a unique kind

ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANKASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANKFDI Regimes: Some Stylized FactsFDI Regimes: Some Stylized Facts

Asian Development Outlook Asian Development Outlook 20042004

Feature

(a) FDI History

(b) FDI Presence

(c) Trade Regime

(d) International Connections

(e) FDI Regime in Practice

(f) Institutional Quality

(g) Human Capital

'Cultural diversity': implicit in the idea of “human capital”.

PRELIMINARIES: (Culture & Capitalist Development)PRELIMINARIES: (Culture & Capitalist Development)

WORLD BANKWORLD BANKSocial Capital: The missing link in developmentSocial Capital: The missing link in development

Sources of Social CapitalSources of Social Capital

families, communities, firms, civil society, public sector, ethnicity, gender

Social Capital Implementation Framework (SCIF)

Social Capital: 'norms and networks that enable collective action'

5 Key Dimensions of Social Capital5 Key Dimensions of Social Capital

1. Groups and networks (to promote and protect personal relationships)

2. Trust and Solidarity (to foster cohesion and collective action)

3. Collective Action and Cooperation (to resolve communal issues)

4. Social Cohesion and Inclusion (to mitigate risk of conflict thru participation)

5. Information and Communication (to improve access to information)

PRELIMINARIES: (Culture & Capitalist Development)PRELIMINARIES: (Culture & Capitalist Development)

‘get the prices right’‘get the property rights right’ ‘get the institutions right’ ‘get the governance right’ ‘get the competitiveness right’‘get the innovations right’‘get the entrepreneurship right’‘get the education right’ ’get the climate right’’get the diseases right’‘get the culture right’

Missing dimension:‘GET THE ‘GET THE ECONOMIC ACTIVITIESECONOMIC ACTIVITIES RIGHT’ RIGHT’

COMMENT: Since 1990 the Washington Institutions Since 1990 the Washington Institutions have provided a string of red herrings...have provided a string of red herrings...

Co-evolution of material and ideational:

constitutive role of cultural diversity in development strategies

1. Origin: historical question2. Evolution (process of change): conjoint impact

Specificities of Southeast Asia

national differences within a broadly comparative framework

CultureCulture PoliticalPoliticalEconomyEconomy

CONTRIBUTION TO KNOWLEDGE OF THIS RESEARCH AGENDACONTRIBUTION TO KNOWLEDGE OF THIS RESEARCH AGENDA

Analysing the constitution of cultural Analysing the constitution of cultural diversitydiversitywithin social relations in which it is within social relations in which it is constituted...constituted...

General Characteristics of Social Relations in Globalising Southeast AsiaSociety ‘The Political’

(State Form)‘The Economic’

(Economic Policies)‘The Cultural’

(Cultural Diversity)Philippines Neo-liberal Market-led, service-

oriented, and partiallyagricultural

Homogenous (with peoplesacknowledging one Filipinorace); cultural diversity basedlargely on linguistic localesand religion)

Malaysia Neo-statist Focus on manufacturingand services

Heterogeneous; internaldiversity with three majorraces: Malay, Chinese, andIndian

Singapore Neo-corporatist Strong manufacturingsector and knowledge-intensive services

Largely homogenous, yetincreasingly becomingheterogeneous with theincorporation of foreignworkers

OVERALL CONTRIBUTION OF THIS RESEARCH AGENDAOVERALL CONTRIBUTION OF THIS RESEARCH AGENDA

Co-evolution of material and ideationalCo-evolution of material and ideational

constitutive role of cultural diversity in development strategies

Specificities of Southeast AsiaSpecificities of Southeast Asia

national differences within a broadly comparative framework

Exploration of appropriate “social relations” for real Exploration of appropriate “social relations” for real developmentdevelopment

“polity-economy-culture” blend in harmonious synergy

—Bonn Juego - 30 April 2009, Jakarta (bonnjuego@yahoo.com)