Chapter 13 - Pragmatic Asianism: International Socialists in South and Southeast Asia

Summary

Abstract

This chapter looks at the “pragmatic Asianism” of the Asian Socialist Conference (1953-56). Though a short-lived organization, it forms an enlightening prism through which to view the recalibration of South and Southeast Asian regionalism during decolonization and the early Cold War. The organization sought to unite Asian socialists and their respective parties, to support and strengthen the presence of socialist parties in both decolonized and decolonizing Asia, and to link Asian socialists to global socialist platforms. The organization was headquartered in Rangoon and led primarily by socialists from India, Burma and Indonesia. It was precisely the ASC's refusal to commit to either power bloc that enabled it to formulate a regionally articulated form of solidarity.

Keywords: internationalism; anticolonialism; democratic socialism; Cold War

“The Imperial States, ruling over a large number of Crown Colonies, several of which are vast, have not done much to discharge their responsibilities towards the workings living in them.” In the Spring of 1929, veteran Indian trade union leader Narayan Malhar Joshi (1879-1955) may well have sounded somewhat exasperated while attempting to explain to a largely European audience in Geneva why the slow and rather lukewarm acceptance of Asian labour leaders into international organizations was dangerous. He continued: “It is futile to argue that the translation of ideals into actuality is a slow process. The slowness of evolution makes revolution attractive. The workers of Asia and Africa will not wait for many decades to achieve what the Europeans may have achieved in a century […].” The implication of Joshi's words was that if the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Geneva did not start being more receptive to the voices of Asian representatives, Moscow was waiting in the wings.

Attempts to give voice to the workers of Asia as a collective, or at least to those trade union leaders who claimed to represent them, dated back to the early 1920s. During the interwar years, this resulted in initiatives to increase Asian membership of ILO, Asian representation in bodies such as the International Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU), and even a short-lived “Asiatic Labour Congress” (1934-1937).