As more people mo
ve across borders in pursuit of a “Good Life\,” Asia is becoming increasing
ly diverse or multicultural. I argue that political elites in non-socialist
Northeast Asia and Mainland Southeast Asia refer to two conceptualizations
of moral personhood derived mostly from Confucian
and Theravada Buddh
ist ideas in dealing with an increasing ethnic plurality and determining on
which types of newcomers make the best fit in their society. In this frame
work\, influential political actors play an important role in the creation
of the citizen or moral person\, as they determine which aspects of the per
son they feel it is necessary to standardize and which can remain uncalibra
ted. Those people who are incapable of contributing to the common good are
justly excluded from becoming a member of a political community. I employ t
wo conceptualizations of personhood to compare citizenship and minority pol
icies in three Northeast Asian countries (Japan\, Korea\, and Taiwan) and t
hree Mainland Southeast Asian countries (Cambodia\, Myanmar\, and Thailand)
. I posit that the concept of moral personhood has impacted how a political
society defines its citizenship and set requirements for membership during
the modern era. These requirements include moral values that elite members
of society perpetually debated among each other\, especially during times
of crisis or social change\, and come to accept them as their guiding princ
iples for what they consider as the “Good Life” in their images of the “Goo
d Society.” During the founding of a modern nation-state\, political elite
have thought and debated on their visions/ideals of a “Good Society\,” espe
cially on how citizens should live their lives and what type of a moral per
son one ought to be.
Apichai W. Sh ipper is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Asian Studies at George town University and the Asia Regional Chair at the Foreign Service Institut e of the U.S. Department of State. He serves as an associate editor of Paci fic Affairs and a steering committee member of an Alumni Board for Diversit y (Mosaic) of Cornell University. Previously\, he taught at the University of Southern California with a joint appointment in the Department of Politi cal Science and the School of International Relations and has been a visiti ng researcher at UCLA\, University of Tokyo\, University of Kyoto\, Hitotsu bashi University\, Stockholm University\, Japan Institute of Labor Policy a nd Training\, and Swedish Institute of International Affairs. He is the aut hor of Fighting for Foreigners: Immigration and Its Impact on Japanese Demo cracy (Cornell University Press\, 2008\; paperback 2016) and has edited a S pecial Issue (2010) on “Citizenship and Migration” in Pacific Affairs. His publications have also appeared in Asian Politics & Policy\, Critical Asian Studies\, Journal of Japanese Studies\, International Studies Quarterly\, North Carolina Journal of International Law & Commercial Regulation\, among others. He has received research grants from: the Social Science Research Council (SSRC-Abe Fellow Program)\, the Japan Foundation\, the MacArthur Fo undation\, the National Science Foundation\, the Japanese Ministry of Educa tion\, among others.