The idea to study the positive and negative influences of Western culture on East Asian countries is not a new one, but it is a growing trend among scholars. At least Michael LaFargue, director of East Asian Studies, thinks so. And so do the average 20 to 30 participants attending each of LaFargue's "Modernization vs. Westernization in East Asia" lecture series.
The latest forum in the series, "Legal Reform in East Asia: From
Grand Theories to People Concerns," was presented by Susan Weld,
well-known professor at Boston College and associate at the East
Asian Legal Studies Program at Harvard Law School, and the wife of
former Massachusetts governor William Weld. Weld focused on
conflicting concerns driving East Asian law reform from three angles
- - modernization of law from within, modernization of law from
without, and modernization of law from the top down.
"Is modernity a western project?" she asked her audience. "It seems
unlikely there will be only one path." In fact, Weld surmised the
world is experiencing what can be termed, "multiple modernity."
Coupled with Joiner Center for the Study of War and Social
Consequences Director Kevin Bowen's comments on Vietnamese efforts in
updating copyright law, and Harvard Law School East Asian Legal
Studies Program affiliate John Ohnesorge's discussion of the
International Monetary Fund and World Bank's imposition of conditions
on government loans, Weld's lecture hit LaFargue's target - - to
create an active discussion of the imposed westernization of East
Asia.
LaFargue says past cultural clashes can often relate to today's
experiences. "The West has, over the last century and a half
especially, had a lot of destructive effects in imposing our
behavior." LaFargue has three additional forums prepared: "Asian
Values, Western Values, and Human Rights" on March 3; "China and the
Internet" on March 24; and "Can Vietnamese Culture Survive Rapid
Modernizations: Quick Noodles or Sticky Rice?" on April 21.