The Asian challenge to the universality of human rights has sparked off intense debate. This volume takes a clear stand for universal rights, both theoretically and empirically, by analysing social and political processes in a number of East and Southeast Asian countries. On the national arenas, Asian values are linked to the struggle between authoritarian and democratic forces, which both tend to convey stereotyped images of the 'west', but with reversed meanings.

Introduction 1 Since There Is No East and There Is No West, How Could Either Be the Best? 2 Universal Rights and Particular Cultures 3 Thick and Thin Accounts of Human Rights 4 Once Again, The Asian Values Debate 5 Human Rights and Asian Values in Vietnam 6 Particularism, Identities and a Clash of Universalisms 7 Modernization without Westernization? 8 Human Rights in Vietnam 9 Freedom as an Asian Value 10 The Chinese Debate on Asian Values and Human Rights 11 Universal Human Rights and Chinese Liberalism 12 Practice to Theory 13 Human Rights Education in Asia 14 The Rights of Foreign Migrant Workers in Asia