Challenging Assumptions and Managing Expectations: Moving Towards Inclusive Social Protection in Southeast Asia

Social protection has become part and parcel of the development response in Southeast Asia and across the globe and is likely to gain even greater prominence in light of the post-2015 development agenda. Its set of objectives has steadily widened with social protection now expected to fulfil a plethora of functions ranging from household-level consumption smoothing to macro-level economic stabilization. Notwithstanding the many achievements of social protection to date, this paper aims to inject a healthy dose of realism into current debates about its appropriate roles. This paper particularly reflects on the productivity-enhancing and growth-inducing focus within social protection — a particularly strong feature in Southeast Asia — and how this undermines principles of inclusivity, human rights and social justice. As an antidote to this Machiavellian type of social protection, this paper argues for "Inclusive Social Protection", focusing on equitable coverage, realistic expectations and better integration of policies and programmes.