While the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Charter has been read by commentators as a constitutional document, its use of the peoples of Southeast Asia as fictional authors of the text has not been fully explored. A people’s reading of the ASEAN Charter provides a critical perspective that uncovers the elitist and statist nature of this document. A close textual analysis of the preamble reveals that these purported authors are displaced by the Heads of State as the speaking subject and creators of the new legal entity. This textual displacement transforms the constituent treaty into a state monologue as it imposes a utopian vision of capitalism on the geopolitical body of the region. Contrary to its democratic claims, the Charter has only constitutionalised reification, class structures, and the exclusion of the peoples from power. The ASEAN constitution silences its own authors.

中文翻译：

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作者不说话：东盟宪章的人民解读

虽然《东南亚国家联盟 (ASEAN) 宪章》已被评论员解读为宪法文件，但尚未充分探讨将东南亚人民用作文本的虚构作者。人们对《东盟宪章》的阅读提供了一个批判性的视角，揭示了这份文件的精英主义和国家主义本质。对序言的仔细文本分析表明，这些所谓的作者被国家元首取代，成为新法律实体的演讲主体和创造者。这种文本置换将组成条约转变为国家独白，因为它将资本主义的乌托邦愿景强加于该地区的地缘政治主体。与它的民主主张相反，《宪章》只对具体化、阶级结构和将人民排除在权力之外进行了宪法化。