State, Society, and Minorities in South and Southeast Asia

Contributions by Thanet Aphornsuvan, Richard L. Benkin, Melissa Kerr Chiovenda, Peter Joseph Hammer, Dagmar Hellman-Rajanayagam, Amy Freedman, Sudha G. Rajput, Taufiq Tanasaldy Edited by Sunil Kukreja

Publication date:

14 November 2016

Length of book:

200 pages

Publisher

Lexington Books

ISBN-13: 9781498517041

South and Southeast Asia continue to be extremely critical regions, deeply intertwined and bound in many ways by centuries of intersecting histories. As the recent experiences of rapid and transformative political and economic changes in several countries in these two regions illustrate, these changes have significant bearing on and are simultaneously affected by the legacy and continued dynamic of dominant-minority group relations. To be sure, while the dynamics of dominant-minority relations in each country are distinct and often mitigated by distinct historical conditions, the phenomenon of these dominant-minority relations, especially along ethnic and religious fault lines, are deeply consequential to many of the nations in these regions. This book, featuring eight case studies, provides a multidisciplinary and multi-layered assessment of the salience of the ethnic and religious realities in shaping various South and Southeast Asian nations. Featuring chapters on Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia, this volume provides a deep appreciation of the challenges that these societies confront in integrating and/or responding to specific ethnic and/or religious based conflicts and tensions.

Chapter 1: Memory, History, and Landscape: Ethnic Hazaras’ Understanding of Marginality in Bamyan, Afghanistan, Melissa Kerr Chiovenda
Chapter 2: Sri Lanka After the War: Reconciliation vs Marginalization, Dagmar Hellmann-Rajanayagam
Chapter 3: Internal Displacement of Kashmiri Pandits, Sudha G. Rajput
Chapter 4: Ethnic Cleansing: The Neglected Case of the Hindus of Bangladesh, Richard L. Benkin
Chapter 5: Orientation and Citizenship Status of the Indonesian Chinese and Political Implications, Taufiq Tanasaldy
Chapter 6: The Politics of Ethnic Marginalization and Foreign Policy in Malaysia, Amy L. Freedman
Chapter 7: The Ethnic Chinese in Cambodia’s Pre-War Economy, Peter J. Hammer
Chapter 8: Justice and Rights in the Malay Muslim South of Thailand, Thanet Aphornsuvan

The book provides a comprehensive survey of the position of minorities in South and Southeast Asia. Through vivid case studies, the authors inquire into the very foundation of the construction of minorities across ethno-religious lines and show how particular social categories are used to create patterns of social, political, and economic inclusion and exclusion. The book does not only offer an interesting perspective on the violence in the region, it also contributes to the understanding of complex relationships between majority and minority in the process of nation building.