Ethnic Minorities and Politics in Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia is a region of eleven different states, each having many different peoples, languages, cultures and religions. However, general ideas, principles or rules which can encompass any one particular example or one country are nevertheless possible. This constant interplay and interaction between the specific and the general, between the local and the regional, between region and nation, between history and current times, is one of the characteristics of Southeast Asia. In taking this background into consideration it is important to distinguish between rule and exception, to trace down recurrent themes in history according to changing circumstances, and to seek possible ways of smoothing tensions or of solving conflicts. This book includes contributions covering about seven Southeast Asian countries: Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam on the mainland, as well as Singapore and Indonesia on the islands. The contributions deal with all three of the important categories of ethnic minorities: the tribal or indigenous populations, the nationalities who live as majority population in neighbouring states, and the so-called 'Foreign Asians'. Furthermore, general questions such as Nationalitätenpolitik and language politics (Sprachenpolitik) are also addressed.

The Editors: Thomas Engelbert is a historian, working as Professor for Vietnamese Language and Culture at the University of Hamburg. Hans Dieter Kubitscheck is a historian and ethnologist and Professor Emeritus of Southeast Asian History and Society of the Humboldt University, Berlin.

Contents : Hans Dieter Kubitschek: The Fundamentals of Nationalitaetenpolitik in Historical Perspective (with special reference to Southeast Asia) - Jean-Louis Margolin: National Construction, Identity Quest and Communitarian Temptations in Independent Singapore - Mary Somers-Heidhues: The Chinese Minority in Indonesia after Reformasi : Cultural Renaissance, Legal Obstacles, Interest Formation - Châu Hái: The Policies on Chinese Residents ( Hoa ) through Various Historical Periods in Vietnam - Annemarie Esche: Ethnic Policy of the Union of Myanmar. The Kayin Case - Alexander Horstmann: From Shared Cosmos to Mobilization of Hatred: Ethnic Relations in Southern Thailand between Complementary, Alienation and Hostility - Michael Steinmetz: Thai Nationalism and the Malay Muslim Minority. Reflections on Domestic and Foreign Aspects of Relevant Historic Sequences - Jana Raendchen: Thai Concepts of Minority Policy: National Integration and Rural Development in North-East Thailand - Volker Grabowsky: The Thai and Lao Ethnic Minorities in Cambodia: Their History and their Fate after Decades of Warfare and Genocide - Thomas Engelbert: From Hunters to Revolutionaries. The Mobilisation of Ethnic Minorities in Southern Laos and North-Eastern Cambodia during the First Indochina War (1945-1954) - Hoàng Th- Châu: The Creation and Dissemination of Writing Systems for Ethnic Minorities in Vietnam: the Current Situation and Related Policies.