Publication: Some Reflections of Ethnic Identity of Refugee Migrants from Burma to Thailand
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Issued Date
2012-07
Resource Type
Language
eng
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Mahidol University
Rights Holder(s)
Institute for Population and Social Research. Mahidol University
Bibliographic Citation
Journal for Population and Social Studies. Vol.21, No.1 (2012), 39-46
Suggested Citation
Ford, Nicholas Some Reflections of Ethnic Identity of Refugee Migrants from Burma to Thailand. Journal for Population and Social Studies. Vol.21, No.1 (2012), 39-46. Retrieved from: https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/123456789/3287
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Title
Some Reflections of Ethnic Identity of Refugee Migrants from Burma to Thailand
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Abstract
The main aim of this paper is to raise the question of the nature of the ethnic
identities that we so often seem to take for granted when talking about the refugee
migrants coming from Burma to Thailand. To do this, an introductory reference is
made to the historical ‘ridge and furrow’ cultural structure of the region, and some
implications this has for contemporary national integration projects within
Southeast Asia. The theoretical core of the paper then revisits some concepts of
ethnicity, with particular reference to the perspectives of ‘primordialism’ and
‘situationalism’. Literature relating these concepts is then outlined, noting their
bearing upon the ‘ethnic’ political conflict in Burma. Finally the paper seeks to
relate the fore-noted, apparently fixed nature of the ethnic identities of these migrants
to the prospects for solutions to the twin crises of democratization and ethnic conflict
in Burma.