Seeing 'Karen' in the Union of Myanmar

Bibliographic Data

ID6039635
AuthorsNick Cheesman (0000-0003-4224-7709)
Year2002
Volume3
Issue2
Pages199-220
Publication date2002-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAsian Ethnicity (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1463-1369 • E-ISSN: 1469-2953
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14631360220132736
OpenAlexW2093983876
LanguageEN
Citations received27
References cited24

Karen identity is problematic, as peoples known as 'Karen' do not share a common language, culture, religion or material characteristics. Most of the research on Karens has been conducted in Thailand, but the dominant 'pan-Karen' identity is a product of social and historical forces in Myanmar, where this study is focused. In the main part of this paper, I reveal the subjective criteria that have come to signify pan-Karen identity. My primary source material consists of internal literary discourses. In particular, I have drawn on the historical texts of two British colonial-era authors: T. Thanbyah and Saw Aung Hla. Three significant concepts appear in their works and subsequent internal discourses on Karen identity: that Karens are oppressed, uneducated and virtuous. In the latter part of the paper, I review contemporary Myanmar government policy on ethnic identity, highlighting the assigned role of 'Union Spirit' among all groups in the country towards overcoming superficial differences. State policies are designed--among other things--to emphasise a myth of common descent of all 'national races'; construct a unifying national culture, and concentrate administrative power at the centre. Both Karen identity and the Union of Myanmar are products of the same historical and social conditions. Both appeal to a supposed unity, but in other characteristics differ. State discourses suggest accommodation, but are directed towards social control. Karen identity is born of primordial statements but is manifest in structural opposition to the state. Ultimately, while the state seeks to assimilate all, Karen nationalists aim towards the assimilation of their own and separation from others

Aesthetics · Appeal · Identity (music · National identity · Opposition (politics · Political science · Politics · Sociology · State (computer science · Asian Geopolitics and Ethnography · Asian Studies and History · Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies · Gender Studies · Law

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