Two Cheers for 'Asian Values'

First used to explain the East Asian economic miracle, then blamed for the region's economic collapse, Asia's famous values are subjected to a cool appraisal.

Nathan Glazer
Printer-friendly version Issue: Fall 1999

Questions about "Asian values"--whether they justify authoritarianism, or have contributed to the remarkable economic ascent of East Asia, or to the region's subsequent and almost equally startling descent--have been the subject of wide and controversial discussion over recent years. But there is another question that has not been as widely considered: Will Asian values--can they--survive the homogenizing effects of globalization?

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