[PDF] Ethnic And Religious Diversity In Myanmar eBook

Author : Perry Schmidt-Leukel
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
Page : 312 pages
File Size : 50,27 MB
Release : 2021-12-02
Category : Religion
ISBN : 1350187410

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One of the most comprehensive volumes on Myanmar's identity politics to date, this book discusses the entanglement of ethnic and religious identities in Myanmar and the challenges presented by its extensive ethnic-religious diversity. Religious and ethnic conjunctions are treated from historical, political, religious and ethnic minority perspectives through both case studies and overview chapters. The book addresses the thorny issue of Buddhist supremacy, Burmese nationalism and ethnic-religious hierarchy, along with reflections on Buddhist, Christian and Muslim communities. Bringing together international scholars and Burmese scholars, this book combines the perspectives of academic observers with those of political activists and religious leaders from different faiths. Through the breadth of its disciplinary approach, its focus on identity issues and its inclusion of insider and outsider perspectives, this book provides new insights into the complex religious situation of Myanmar.

Author : Mikael Gravers
Publisher : Nordic Institute of Asian Studies
Page : 344 pages
File Size : 27,17 MB
Release : 2007
Category : Social Science
ISBN :

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While the image of modern Myanmar/Burma tends to be couched in human rights terms - and especially of a heroic Aung San Suu Kyi opposing and oppressive military regime - in reality there are several conflicts with ethnic and religious dimensions, as well as political and ideological differences between the opposition and the ruling military regime. This is not surprising in a country where 30% of the population and much of the land area are non-Burman, and where contradictory tendencies towards regional separatism versus unitary rule have divided the people since before independence. In what is probably the most comprehensive study of Burma's ethnic minorities to date, this volume discusses the historical formation of ethnic identity and its complexities in relation to British colonial rule as well as the modern state, the present situation of military rule, and its policy of "myanmarification." Changes of identity in exile due to religious conversion are analyzed and discussed. Finally the book deals with relevant and recent anthropological and sociological theoretical discussions on the ethnic identity, boundaries, and space of all the main ethnic groups in Burma.

Author : Arend van Dorp
Publisher : Langham Publishing
Page : 127 pages
File Size : 29,39 MB
Release : 2022-10-31
Category : Religion
ISBN : 1839737158

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Forces of division, conflict, and fear threaten to separate us from the neighbor who does not look, act, or pray like us. However, followers of Christ are charged with embodying a unity that celebrates difference rather than fleeing from it. Ethnic Diversity and Reconciliation explores the implications of the church’s radical call to inclusive community in the context of Myanmar’s long history of ethnic conflict. Dr. Arend van Dorp outlines the theological foundations for understanding the church’s mandate as a diverse and unified missional body, while also engaging the very real challenges posed to this mandate by the cultural, religious, and historical realities faced by Christians in Myanmar. He demonstrates that while the challenges are vast, so is the potential for transformation and reconciliation when the church takes up its mantle and bears faithful witness to God’s love in a fractured world.

Author : Carine Jaquet
Publisher : MkF Éditions
Page : 88 pages
File Size : 49,77 MB
Release : 2015-12-08
Category : Political Science
ISBN :

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After more than half a century of military dictatorship, Myanmar is experiencing an unprecedented political transition since its Independence in 1948. The first semi-civilian government took function in 2011. Since then, it has been trying to pacify the country, which had faced the longest civil war of history for more than 60 years, and to open its economy, inherited from a heavy and fossilized state system. The current government officially recognizes at least 135 ethnic groups in a country slightly larger than France. Having to deal with such a mosaic, the central power always tried to unify the country from the independence of 1948, politically when possible, militarily when it met resistances. Due to its complexity and to the fact that it may endanger both the economy and security of the country, the handling of the ethnic and religious diversity will be a determinant factor for the future of Myanmar and for the long-term impact of its current transition. Explore ONE MYANMAR, a webdocumentary to understand the unity and diversity in Myanmar.

Author : Loïs Desaine
Publisher : Institut de recherche sur l’Asie du Sud-Est contemporaine
Page : 126 pages
File Size : 22,38 MB
Release : 2018-08-16
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 2355960054

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The political regime in Myanmar used to be a seemingly monopolistic structure where power was exclusively in the Army’s hands. A marginal external influence was exercised by businessmen with close ties to the regime while the country is also exposed to the influence of powerful regional states. Since the General Elections in November 2010, the establishment of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar with a parliamentary democracy (which remains under some control of the Army, but with notable civilian representation) is the most noticeable change in Myanmar politics for decades as it may shift the state away from the Army monopoly, although concrete changes remain to be demonstrated.

Author : Francis Wade
Publisher : Zed Books Ltd.
Page : 210 pages
File Size : 32,75 MB
Release : 2017-08-15
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 1783605308

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For decades Myanmar has been portrayed as a case of good citizen versus bad regime – men in jackboots maintaining a suffocating rule over a majority Buddhist population beholden to the ideals of non-violence and tolerance. But in recent years this narrative has been upended. In June 2012, violence between Buddhists and Muslims erupted in western Myanmar, pointing to a growing divide between religious communities that before had received little attention from the outside world. Attacks on Muslims soon spread across the country, leaving hundreds dead, entire neighbourhoods turned to rubble, and tens of thousands of Muslims confined to internment camps. This violence, breaking out amid the passage to democracy, was spurred on by monks, pro-democracy activists and even politicians. In this gripping and deeply reported account, Francis Wade explores how the manipulation of identities by an anxious ruling elite has laid the foundations for mass violence, and how, in Myanmar’s case, some of the most respected and articulate voices for democracy have turned on the Muslim population at a time when the majority of citizens are beginning to experience freedoms unseen for half a century.

Author : Lian H. Sakhong
Publisher : Nordic Institute of Asian Studies
Page : 314 pages
File Size : 46,65 MB
Release : 2003
Category : History
ISBN :

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Chinram was once an independent land ruled by Chin chiefs and where the people followed traditional Chin religion. By the turn of the twentieth century however, it had been abruptly transformed by British annexation and the arrival of Christian missionaries. As the Chin became increasingly related to Burmese independence movements, they began to articulate their own Christian traditions of democracy and assert a burgeoning self-awareness of their own national identity. In short, Christianity provided the Chin people with a means of preserving their national identity in the midst of multiracial and multireligious environments. Written by an exiled former Secretary General of the Chin National League for Democracy, this is the first in-depth study on Chin nationalism and Christianity. Not only does it provide a clear analysis of the close relationship between religion, ethnicity and nationalism, but also the volume contains valuable data on the Chin and their role in the history of Bruma.

Author : Matthew J. Walton
Publisher :
Page : 65 pages
File Size : 38,74 MB
Release : 2014
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780866382533

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Myanmar's transition to democracy has been marred by violence between Buddhists and Muslims. While the violence originally broke out between Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims, it subsequently emerged throughout the country, impacting Buddhists and Muslims of many ethnic backgrounds. This article offers background on these so-called "communal conflicts" and the rise and evolution of Buddhist nationalist groups led by monks that have spearheaded anti-Muslim campaigns. The authors describe how current monastic political mobilization can be understood as an extension of past monastic activism, and is rooted in traditional understandings of the monastic community's responsibility to defend the religion, respond to community needs, and guide political decision-makers. The authors propose a counter-argument rooted in Theravada Buddhism to address the underlying anxieties motivating Buddhist nationalists while directing them toward peaceful actions promoting coexistence. Additionally, given that these conflicts derive from wider political, economic, and social dilemmas, the authors offer a prescription of complementary policy initiatives.--Résumé de l'éditeur.

Author : Renaud Egreteau
Publisher : NUS Press
Page : 446 pages
File Size : 33,51 MB
Release : 2015-09-30
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9971698668

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With a young population of more than 52 million, an ambitious roadmap for political reform, and on the cusp of rapid economic development, since 2010 the world’s attention has been drawn to Myanmar or Burma. But underlying recent political transitions are other wrenching social changes and shocks, a set of transformations less clearly mapped out. Relations between ethnic and religious groups, in the context of Burma’s political model of a state composed of ethnic groups, are a particularly important “unsolved equation”. The editors use the notion of metamorphosis to look at Myanmar today and tomorrow—a term that accommodates linear change, stubborn persistence and the possibility of dramatic transformation. Divided into four sections, on politics, identity and ethnic relations, social change in fields like education and medicine, and the evolutions of religious institutions, the volume takes a broad view, combining an anthropological approach with views from political scientists and historians. This volume is an essential guide to the political and social challenges ahead for Myanmar.