The form of argument
in this
presentation has emphasized several specific points: first, that the Asian values argument, as a challenge to the implementation of constitutional democracy, is exaggerated and fails to account for the richness of values discourse
in the East Asian region - local values do not provide a justification for harsh authoritarian practices; second, that the cultural prerequisites arguments fail because they ignore the discursive processes for value development and they are tautological, excessively deterministic and ignore the importance of human agency it, therefore, makes little sense to take an entry test for constitutional democracy; third, the difficulties of importing Western communitarian ideas into an East Asian authoritarian environment without adequate liberal constitutional safeguards; fourth, the positive role of constitutionalism
in constructing empowering conversations
in modern democratic development and as a venue for values discourse; fifth, the importance, especially
in a cross-cultural
context, of indigenization of constitutionalism through local institutional embodiment; and sixth, the value of extending research focused on the positive engendering or enabling function of constitutionalism to the developmental
context in general and East Asia
in particular.
African Art Collectives includes a short
presentation by Elvira Dyangani Ose, Curator International Art Tate
Modern, placing Issa Samb's work
in the
context of Laboratoire Agit» Art and other African art collectives, exploring the situations and politics that motivated them.