Constructing ASEAN, the EU, and the ASEAN-EU relationship

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

“…Contestation then focuses on taking a crisis of these identities as its starting point – in this case, the breakdown of relations between the EU and ASEAN over human rights in the early 90s. Language, importantly, is only powerful when it draws on and interprets (‘narrates’) real events and crises: against a background of human rights concerns in Southeast Asia on the one hand, most notably in Myanmar and East Timor, and the EU's enshrining human rights into its foreign policy on the other, both actors would narrate two contrasting ‘identities’ (Stacey, 2020). The EU would see itself as a ‘Guardian’ of human rights, a sense of ‘duty’ in defending human rights worldwide, and ASEAN, challenging the international standard of human rights that it deemed unfair, posed a threat to that identity.…”

“…One further note on Representational Force is to consider and address three concerns (Stacey, 2020: 62–66). First, who is this ASEAN (and, to a lesser extent, the EU) that represents anything?…”

“…So how precisely do we see language power in play? Without offering a full account of the breadth and depth of Representational Force (see Mattern, 2005;Stacey, 2020), it is suffice to say that the model seeks to 'show' contestation in play. First, it takes a macro view of the actors under study, taking their identities seriously.…”

“…Although only some are directly referenced here, all of material provided in the interviews is drawn upon to paint an accurate interpretation of the events. See Stacey (2020). 4.…”

“… 5. See also Stacey (2020) for a discussion of Myanmar and the ‘right to development’: two other key areas of contestation that have shaped human rights in the ASEAN–EU relationship.…”