Author: Taylor, Robert H.

Source: South East Asia Research, Volume 13, Number 3, November 2005 , pp. 261-286(26)

Publisher: IP Publishing Ltd

Abstract:

The central importance of ethnicity as the major determinant of political identity in Myanmar's modern history has long been accepted as axiomatic in the literature on the country. But this essay, which reviews Myanmar's modern political history in terms of the issue of political identity, suggests that perhaps the past is an inadequate guide to the present, and new hypotheses may need to be posed in order to understand more fully the role of ethnicity in contemporary Myanmar politics. Indeed, it can be argued that Myanmar's more than 50 years of independence and largely self-imposed - or most recently, externally mandated - isolation has created new identities that owe less to the past, and more to the willing or unwilling generation of a new focus for primarily political identity for many, if not most, residents of the country. In fact, the question needs to be asked whether 50 years of civil war has not created a nation from the fragments that previously fought over what kind of nation to conceive. While it is too soon to reach firm conclusions, some tentative evidence suggests that this may indeed be the case.

Keywords: ETHNICITY; IDENTITY; POLITICAL CHANGE; MYANMAR POLITICS

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5367/000000005775179676

Publication date: 2005-11-01

More about this publication?

• South East Asia Research publishes articles based on original research or fieldwork on all aspects of South East Asia within the disciplines of archaeology, art history, economics, geography, history, language and literature, law, music, political science, social anthropology and religious studies. This peer-reviewed journal is published four times per year by IP Publishing in cooperation with the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). SOAS is the leading centre in this field in Europe and one of the most prestigious centres of South East Asian Studies in the world.

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