MANILA -- Often I begin workshops or classes dealing with liberalism by asking participants to share their definition of that political concept by jotting catchwords on little cards that are then collected and pinned to a moderation board. Not only is this method, as I have come to learn, highly participatory, but it also comes close to a written referendum of the group on the definition of a highly complex and controversial concept.
Always topping the list of catchwords defining liberalism is the term "freedom." No doubt freedom is at the very center of liberal thinking and ideology. In the exercise, participants frequently annotate the noun freedom: For them, liberalism means freedom of expression, freedom of association and opinion or, very basically, freedom to do as one desires.
When I conduct this exercise with participants from Western countries, the answers tend to differ somewhat. Outside of Asia, emphasis is put on the freedom of the individual and individualism. This differentiation between East and West is not surprising, as most Asian cultures, particularly those influenced by Confucian thinking, put more emphasis on harmony in society than on the right of self-realization of the individual.