How have we kept the peace in ASEAN and how can we secure its promise among all peoples in Southeast Asia?: preliminary reflections on a humanist paradigm

ABSTRACT Is humanity – a global human community – possible? I suggest that it is not only possible, but is an immanent world in certain places such as East/Southeast-Asia. This possibility emerges from what I call the original encounter – in which primordial spaces in the global realm are constituted by never-old, self-determining, and evolutionary political communities inside as well as outside of the logic of the state. The paper begins by asking: If we, the peoples, exist and respect each other as equals, how then do we come together and agree on our ideas, sentiments, beliefs, and interests as a divided community? Behind the question is a pragmatic purpose. A fifty-year peace has reigned among ASEAN states. But how did we keep this project alive? How can we extend and deepen it? The ‘original encounter’ I explore is a normative proposition. It comprises eight postulates which form aspects and dimensions of a world we inhabit but which we do not see in its totality – a gem in the rough. The objective of the paper is not to complete an answer, but provide enough evidence to raise a fundamental question: Can ASEAN be conceptualised as a community of peoples?