Comparing organisational and alternative regional citizenships: the case of ‘Entrepreneurial regional citizenship’ in ASEAN

Abstract

Researchers have increasingly investigated emerging regional citizenships outside the European Union, including in Southeast Asia, South America and West Africa. Their accounts have, however, largely focused on efforts by regional organisations to promote a regional identity and enhance mobility. This article applies a broader comparative framework disaggregating regional citizenship into six constitutive elements. The approach enables a more comprehensive analysis of the nature and shape of emerging organisational citizenship regimes, the identification of potentially significant alternatives, and more systematic comparisons of both across global regions. It is applied first in identifying a duties-centric, top-down and developmental conception of citizenship implicit in recent communications to ‘ASEAN citizens’ by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. That conception is compared to alternatives, including one implicit in Amitav Acharya’s model of participatory regionalism, and one drawn from field work among regionally networked, digitally focused social entrepreneurs within ASEAN states. The latter indicate a conception which is duties centric but also foregrounds entrepreneurs’ potential for agency and leadership in regional development. We close with a discussion of different practical challenges, related to different elements of citizenship, each conception faces, and the potential for alternatives such as entrepreneurial regional citizenship to influence emergent organisational regimes.