Identity and Community

• Identity: An actor's sense of uniqueness due to physical, social attributes, values, and behaviors.

Functions of Identity

• How an actor views itself.
• How others perceive the actor.

Community

• A group of people in a specific area or sharing common interests, social group, or nationality.

Two Features of a Community

• A social relationship rather than just purely instrumental.
• Group displaying mutual responsiveness, confidence, esteem, and self-conscious identity.
• Identity building is reinforced by cultural and historical ties.
• Regional identity, like a community, can be imagined.
• Southeast Asia is considered an imagined region.
• It is imagined by historians, imperial strategists, and elites of ASEAN member states.
• ASEAN's founders envisioned themselves as part of a collective entity.

Challenges to ASEAN Identity

• Lack of a universally accepted definition until recently.
• Stereotypes and prejudice.
• Limited knowledge about ASEAN and Southeast Asia.
• A nation-centric view of history which puts one's own nation above all else.

Efforts to Foster Collective ASEAN Identity

• Adoption of the ASEAN Identity during the 37th ASEAN Summit.
• Mindful reading, listening, and watching.
• ASEAN studies.

Formalizing ASEAN Identity

• Identity suggests a relational view of a group's position and role and the feeling of "we".
• Repeated reaffirmation of the need for regional identity.

Documents Advocating Regional Identity within ASEAN

• Bali Concord II (2003): fosters a community of caring societies and promotes a common regional identity.
• ASEAN Charter (2008): promotes an ASEAN identity through greater awareness of diverse culture and heritage.
• Narrative of ASEAN Identity (2020): adopted during the 37th ASEAN Summit, elaborates on the background, aims, values, and foundational aspects of ASEAN identity.
• ASEAN identity is a social construct balancing "Constructed Values" and "Inherited Values" to strengthen the ASEAN Community.

Sources of ASEAN Identity

• Nationalism: Southeast Asian nationalism arose from anticolonial struggles.
• Cultural norms and modes of interaction: Asian values emphasize "society over the self" and "respect for authority".
• Modernist Developmental State Orientation and Approach: Economic growth over ideology
• Regionalism: The "ASEAN way" is a significant source of regional collective identity.

Parameters to Measure the Success of ASEAN Identity

• ASEAN Awareness: Percentage of ASEAN peoples that can associate with being part of ASEAN.
• ASEAN Relevance: Understanding of how people should benefit from ASEAN.
• ASEAN Appreciation: Degree of appreciation of people to be part of ASEAN and acknowledgement of the unity of ASEAN Community by external parties.

Sustainable Tourism

• Tourism is time away from home for recreation, relaxation, and pleasure, using commercial services.
• Sustainable tourism protects and enhances future opportunities for tourists and host countries.
• Ecotourism focuses on ecological conservation and educating travelers.
• Top 3 ASEAN destinations: Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore.

Historical Background

• Post-colonial economies of Southeast Asian countries.
• US recognition of Philippine Independence (July 4, 1946).
• Declaration of Independence of Indonesia (August 17, 1945).
• "Hari Merdeka" Declaration of Malayan Independence (August 31, 1957).

Establishment of Economic Cooperation in ASEAN

• 1967 ASEAN Declaration.
• ASEAN Industrial Projects (AIP).
• Preferential Trade Agreements (PTA).

Emphasis on the Economic Dimension of ASEAN

• Dispels the notion that ASEAN is a defense arrangement.
• Strong commitment to economic development.
• It Persuades Southeast Asian people that their improvement is a governments focus.

ASEAN Free Trade

• It was formed in 1992
• It helps ASEAN industries compete globally, attract investments, and make ASEAN a significant global actor.

Asian Financial Crisis of 1997

• The IMF led the international response by coordinating rescue operations.
• The IMF organized support programs contingent on structural reforms adherence to macroeconomic fundamentals.
• Bali Concord II was produced at the First ASEAN Summit in Bali in 1976 in response to the crisis.
• Bali Concord II consists of three pillars: ASEAN Security Community (ASC), ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), and ASEAN Socio-cultural Community (ASCC).

Economic Integration

• Reduction/elimination of trade barriers and coordination of monetary/fiscal policies.
• Reduces costs for consumers and producers and increases trade.
• Sometimes referred to as "regional integration".

ASEAN Economic Community

• Single market and production base.
• Competitive economic region.
• Equitable economic development.
• Fully integrated region in the global economy.

Benefits of ASEAN Economic Integration to the Philippines

• Easier and cheaper travel around ASEAN.
• Cheaper goods and services.
• More employment and professional opportunities for Filipinos.
• More educational opportunities for Filipinos.
• A better Philippines.
• ASEAN is an economic powerhouse, a non-monolithic market, has macroeconomic stability, is a growing hub of consumer demand, is well-positioned in global trade flows, has deeper intraregional trade, and is home to many globally competitive companies.

ASEAN Cultural Heritage

• Culture is an integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior transmitted across generations.
• Two categories of culture: Tangible (physical artefacts) and Intangible (practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills).
• Cultural heritage represents traditions, ideas, knowledge, or knowledge systems shared by a community over time.

Problems/Threats in Cultural Heritage

• Cultural loss or rapid deterioration.
• Climate change.
• Irresponsible tourism.
• Irresponsible commercialism.
• Pandemics.

Solutions to These Problems

• Raising awareness on cultural heritage and how to preserve it, collective efforts of member states, and exposure to responsible tourism.
• Regional level actions include declaration on cultural heritage and digital archives.
• National level actions include establishments of government agencies, local legislation, and promotion of social entrepreneurship.
• Preservation of culture.