Race, Class and Politics in Peninsular Malaysia
The General Election of 2008
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12350314 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Lian Kwen Fee (0000-0002-7755-0903, National University of Singapore, corresponding author), Jayanath Appudurai (National University of Singapore) |
| Year | 2011 |
| Volume | 35 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 63-82 |
| Publication date | 2011-02-25 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Asian Studies Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1035-7823 • E-ISSN: 1467-8403 |
| Publisher | Routledge (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/10357823.2011.552706 |
| OpenAlex | W2078332857 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 7 |
| References cited | 27 |
Racial politics have bedevilled peninsular Malaysia since independence in 1957, largely sustained by a ruling coalition of partners sharing power unequally, in a consociational government. The effect of a racialised practice over fifty years is the institutionalisation of the politics of ethnic pluralism, each component driven by its own internal dynamic and cultural logic: for the Chinese it is the politics of economic security, for the Tamils the politics of religion and caste, and for the Malays incipient class antagonisms that are historically rooted in a feudal society. In the general election of 2008, there was an unprecedented swing of votes across the ethnic divide against the ruling government, resulting in the loss of five state governments to an opposition coalition espousing multiculturalism and the loss of the government's two-thirds majority in Parliament for the first time. However, we argue that these developments do not signal the beginning of the end of racial politics in peninsular Malaysia. Instead, the opposition has skilfully recoded multiculturalism as social justice and accountability in racial terms, and effectively communicated this to an essentially racialised electorate at a time when Malays, Chinese and Tamils had lost faith in the ruling government's ability to address deep-seated grievances specific to each of these communities
Caste · Democracy · Multiculturalism · Opposition (politics · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Asian Studies and History · Law · Socioeconomic Development in Asia
Mak Bedah Goes Shopping for a Real Candidate in Malaysia's 2008 General Elections
Identities, Nations and Ethnicities
Essentialising Ethnic and State Identities
Rights Consciousness in Malaysia
The 2013 Malaysian Elections
Relative deprivation, self-interest and social justice
Housing racism against Indians in Malaysia's Klang Valley
Racism and migrant labour
Democracy in Plural Societies
Colonial Policy and Practice
Cage of Freedom
From British to Bumiputera Rule
Chinese Village Politics in the Malaysian State
Government and Society in Malaysia
Southeast Asian Affairs 1988
The Invention of Politics in Colonial Malaya
Playing the (non)ethnic card
The political and economic marginalisation of Tamils in Malaysia
The “Battle Royal
The making of race in colonial Malaya
Ethnic and class relations in Malaysia
Rethinking Racism
Class and communal conflict in Malaysia
Indian Communities in Southeast Asia
Politics in a Plural Society
From sojourners to citizens
Multiculturalism and immigration
| Unique citing works | 7 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,47 |
| Citation span | 2011 - 2025 (15) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 7 |