Ethnicity And Nation Building In South Asia

First published in 1989, this widely hailed core text of the dynamics of ethnic identities and movements in the South Asian region is perhaps even more relevant today, as the region faces a resurgence of ethno-nationalist sentiments and the outbreak of new ethnic conflict. Among the features of this thoroughly revised edition are: /-/ - it provides a critical appraisal of various theoretical approaches to the study of ethnicity and nation-building /-/ - delineates the ethnic composition of the South Asian Region/-/ - examines the specific state structures of the countries studied: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives/-/ - discusses various ethnic movements in these countries/-/ - covers the most recent developments in the region

Preface

A ground-breaking book on nation-building, ethnicity and regional politics in South Asia.

This book comprises eight papers which deal with various aspects of ethnic Chinese and nation-building in Southeast Asia: ethnic Chinese and the concept of nation in the region, Chinese political participation, government's policies towards ethnic Chinese, ethnic Chinese and indigenous economics nationalism, ethnic Chinese and Sino-Indonesian relations, and China's policies towards Southeast Asian Chinese. This edition features a new postscript by the author.

Contributed articles and papers presented at the International Seminar on Cultural Pluralism, Ethnicity and Nation-Building in South Asia, held at Mumbai in December 1995

The idea of the ‘nation’ is a Western concept which has been applied to Southeast Asia. It is a project which has been in progress since the last century but is still incomplete. Various theoretical frameworks which are associated with nation and nation-building in the Southeast Asian region have been briefly dealt with. The book aims to examine the making of the nations in Southeast Asia using both historical and political science approaches. Concepts related to nation such as ethnicity, state, indigenism and citizenship have also been analysed in the Southeast Asian context. Specific examples of nation-building in five major Southeast Asian countries are presented. Problems and prospects of Southeast Asia's nation-building and citizenship building in the era of globalisation are also discussed. Contents:Multi-Ethnic Society, Conflict Regulation and Nation-BuildingNation, State, Ethnicity and IndigenismNation, Citizenship and IndigenismEthnicity, Indigenism and Southeast Asia's Citizenship LawsEthnic Chinese and the Formation of Southeast Asian NationsChina's Citizenship Laws and Southeast Asian ChineseNation-Building or Citizenship-Building in Singapore?Indigenism, Islam and Nation-Building in MalaysiaEthnicity, Religion and Nation-Building in IndonesiaThe Philippines and Thailand: Ethnicity and Islam in Nation-BuildingCitizenship, Nation-State and Nation-Building in Globalizing Southeast AsiaAppendices:Ethnic and Religious Compositions of Southeast Asian CountriesCitizenship Law of Brunei DarussalamCitizenship Law of CambodiaCitizenship Law of IndonesiaCitizenship Law of LaosCitizenship Law of Malaysia (The Citizenship Section of Constitution)Citizenship Law of MyanmarCitizenship Law of the Philippines (The Citizenship Information in the Constitution)Citizenship Law of SingaporeCitizenship Law of ThailandCitizenship Law of Vietnam Readership: Undergraduates, postgraduates, researchers, academics, and members of the general public who are interested in Southeast Asian politics, in particular, the topic of nation-building. Key Features:The book is written by a Southeast Asian scholar, familiar with both Asian and Western culturesThe making of Southeast Asian nations is topical as many nations, including Singapore, are celebrating their “nationhood”The discussion on citizenship is based on the Citizenship Laws of the Southeast Asian statesKeywords:Nations;State;Ethnicity;Indigenism;Citizenship;Southeast AsiaReviews: “Professor Suryadinata has spent much of his life studying the modern polity called a nation. This volume brings together his thoughts on the multiple aspects of that very elusive ideal. It will provide generations of students with a useful guide through the labyrinth of the new forces at work in our region. It therefore gives me great pleasure to welcome his contributions here.” Professor Wang Gungwu

The book addresses questions such as: how should historians treat the earlier pasts of each country and the nationalism that guided the nation-building tasks? Where did political culture come in, especially when dealing with modern challenges of class, secularism and ethnicity? What part do external or regional pressures play when the nations are still being built? The authors have thought deeply about the issues of writing nation-building histories and have tried to put them not only in the perspective of Southeast Asian developments of the past five decades, but also the larger areas of historiography today.