Asian

Regionalism
Members:

Lagutin, Lhyka M.

Solis, Sherlene

Cuarto, Fiamma A.
INTRODUCTION

SUMMARY

Asia Pacific and South Asia’s Impact on Globalization

ADB, 2008, stated in the contemporary world, Asia has become an economic force characterized
by reduced poverty and fast pace economic development.

Asia was the central global force in the early modern world economy. It was the site of the most
important trade routes and in some places more advances in technology that West such as
science and medicine.

Regionalization

-Societal integration and often undirected process of social and economic integration.

-End result of regionalism

Regionalization entails complex and dynamic interactions between and among governmental
and nongovernmental actors which resulted to hybrid in East Asia.

Third Wave

•First wave of regional economic development took place in Japan in the mid-1950s to early
1970s.

•Second wave took place between the 1960s and 1980s in South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and
Singapore.

•Regional economic development took place within the context of the American informal
empire in “Free Asia’.

Two Salient Point in the History of East Asian Middle-Class Formation

Middle-class formation in East Asia has been influenced by global and regional transnational
capitalism, while middle-class Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan were created by developmental
states and national capitalism. These new urban middle classes, with their jobs, education, and
income, have created their own lifestyles based on their middle-class status and income.

Middle Classes in the Philippines

Post-1986, the Philippines experienced the emergence of new urban middle classes, fueled by
growth in retail trade, manufacturing, banking, real estate development, and specialist services.
These new enterprises, influenced by liberalization and deregulation policies, focused on export
and domestic markets, involving diverse foreign investment sources and variable subcontracting,
franchise, and service relationships. They also expanded ties with East and Southeast Asian
countries.

Regional Implications of Middle -Class Formation in East Asia

Urban middle classes in East Asia have been shaped by historical forces and regional economic
development, originating in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hongkong, Singapore, Thailand,
Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. These middle classes have adapted to various cultures
and lifestyles, often mediated by the market. The political consequences of their rise vary, with
South Korea's cultural and political hegemony embodied by a single generation, while Taiwanese
middle classes display political assertiveness of an ethnic majority. Southeast Asian middle
classes also exhibit diversity and complexity, with Thai middle classes being socially coherent,
hegemonic, and politically ascendant, while Malaysia and Indonesia's middle classes are socially
divided, politically assertive, and vulnerable. The Philippine middle classes are socially coherent,
culturally ascendant, and politically vacillating.

CONCLUSION