Language and cultural rights in the ethnic revival movement of the black tai in Khaoyoi, Petchaburi

Abstract

© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014. The study on which this chapter is based is a sociolinguistic study of local community involvement in the initiation and implementation of an ethnic revival movement, with an emphasis on local school curricula in a Black Tai community in Khaoyoi district, Petchaburi province, Thailand. It addresses the notions of ethnocultural identity, language rights, stigma, prejudice, and discrimination in an educational sphere. The research aims to examine the ethnic revival movement of the Black Tai in terms of a social group's rights-claiming behavior as well as to investigate the psychological outcomes of the local curricula such as better attitudes and better self-esteem. The Nongprong School and Khaoyoi School in Khaoyoi district, Petchaburi province, are selected as the research sites for these schools have chosen to incorporate the Black Tai ethnic language and culture in their school curricula. The present study aims to answer three research questions: (1) What kinds of stigma and prejudice are present in the research sites? (2) How is the ethnic revival movement interpreted in terms of rights-claiming behavior? (3) What are the impacts of such movement on the community and its members, especially students? The result shows that instead of assimilating into the majority Thai culture, the Black Tai people try to revive their ethnic identity by networking and maintaining their ethnic identity, reinforcing group solidarity to negotiate and regain social dignity from historical stigma. In addition, by having such inclusive local curriculum content, not only the big mosaic of human diversity can be better understood in the community but the local history, local wisdom, and the pride of one's ethnic identity are also promoted.