Wartości azjatyckie – jako platforma polityczna i przedmiot badań socjologicznych

The extraordinary economic growth experienced within East Asian countries - often achieved under different modalities than that of the neo-liberal orthodoxy - has put the political and social arrangements of these countries under the spotlight. The success of these countries, in relation to the downturn of Western economies, and the friction which has arisen over trade protectionism, economic conditionality, democracy and human rights have made the “Asian values” debate more than just an intellectual exercise. In fact it is highly, perhaps irredeemably, politicized. The authors try to explain the crucial difference between the ideologically defined „Asian values” and the „Asian values” which are really present in the Asian minds, and as such may be the subject of the scientific interest. Further they present the short report of the results of their comparative values researches conducted on the population of Polish and Vietnamese students in the year 2003.