KNOWLEDGE AND POWER IN THE PROFANE WORLD OF ASIAN POLITICS

At the LSE Asia Forum conference on “The Politics of Knowledge” in Singapore in April 2008, economists, lawyers, sociologists, and other specialists spoke eloquently about the complex issues arising out of the ‘Information Economy’, the dramatic expansion of education, and the deepening technological challenges facing Asia and the rest of the world in this era of rapid climate change. As for myself, a political scientist and Southeast Asia specialist by training, I spoke of something rather different, something often overlooked in discussions of Knowledge and Power.

In the profane world of politics, ‘Knowledge is Power’ seems like something of an empty slogan, at least if we consider recent and ongoing trends in much of Asia. Indeed, for all the spread of information via the Internet and the expansion of education in Asia over the past decade, little seems to have changed in terms of the broad structures of political power in the region. Communist parties remain in power in Beijing, Hanoi, Pyongyang, and Vientiane (and arguably Phnom Penh as well). The LDP has weathered splits and challenges in Japan; UMNO is facing challenges in Malaysia, but the People's Action Party (PAP) remains firmly in the saddle in Singapore. For all the in-depth investigative reporting on corruption in India and Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Thailand, Asian democracies are still dominated by the politics of machinery and money. For all the ease with which images of state violence are transmitted around the globe, the generals are still in power in Burma (and, in considerable measure, in Pakistan).

Overall, the style of rule may have changed, but not the substance. For the vast majority of people in Asia, it appears, Knowledge does not bring Power, just greater — and, at times, more painful — knowledge of powerlessness.