Government Policies and Ethnic Relations in Asia and the Pacific

Government Policies and Ethnic Relations in Asia and the Pacific
Author: Michael E. Brown
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 628
Release: 1997-10-20
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780262522458

Efforts to contend with tensions inherent in multiethnic societies; case studies of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, China, Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Vanuatu, and the Federated States of Micronesia. Ethnic conflict, one of the most serious and widespread problems in the world today, can undermine efforts to promote political and economic development, as well as political, economic, and social justice. It can also lead to violence and open warfare, producing horrifying levels of death and destruction. Although government policies on ethnic issues often have profound effects on a country, the subject has been neglected by most scholars and analysts. This volume analyzes different policies governments have pursued in their efforts to contend with the tensions inherent in multiethnic societies. The book focuses on Asia and the Pacific, the most populous and economically vibrant part of the world. The heart of the book is a set of case studies of government policies in sixteen countries: India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, China, Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Vanuatu, and the Federated States of Micronesia. The studies consider a wide range of political, economic, educational, linguistic, and cultural policies, and how these policies have evolved over time. Using a broad comparative perspective to assess the effectiveness of different governmental approaches, the authors offer policy recommendations that cut across individual countries and regions.

Fighting Words

Fighting Words
Author: Michael Edward Brown
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 502
Release: 2003
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780262523332

A study of the impact of language policies on ethnic relations in fifteen Asian and Pacific countries.

Ethnic Policy in China

Ethnic Policy in China
Author: James Leibold
Publisher: Policy Studies (East-West Cent
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2013
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780866382335

Following significant interethnic violence beginning in 2008, Chinese intellectuals and policymakers are now engaged in unprecedented debate over the future direction of their country's ethnic policies. This study attempts to gauge current Chinese opinion on this once-secretive and still highly sensitive area of national policy. Domestic Chinese opinion on ethnic policies over the last five years is reviewed and implications for future policies under the new leadership of CPC Secretary General Xi Jinping are explored. Careful review of a wide spectrum of contemporary Chinese commentary identifies an emerging consensus for ethnic-policy reform. Leading public intellectuals, as well as some party officials, now openly call for new measures strengthening national integration at the expense of minority rights and autonomy. These reformers argue that divisive ethnic policies adopted from the former USSR must be replaced by those supporting an ethnic "melting pot" concept. Despite this important shift in opinion, such radical policy changes as ending regional ethnic autonomy or minority preferences are unlikely over the short-to-medium term. Small-yet-significant adjustments in rhetoric and policy emphasis are, however, expected as the party-state attempts to strengthen interethnic cohesiveness as a part of its larger agenda of stability maintenance. About the author James Leibold is a senior lecturer in Politics and Asian Studies at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia. He is the author of Reconfiguring Chinese Nationalism (2007) and co-editor of Critical Han Studies (2012) and Minority Education in China (forthcoming). His research on ethnicity, nationalism, and race in modern China has appeared in The China Journal, The China Quarterly, The Journal of Asian Studies, Modern China, and other publications.

East Asian Law

East Asian Law
Author: Lucie Cheng
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 255
Release: 2003-09-02
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1134431805

This work explores the tension in East Asia between the trend towards a convergence of legal practices in the direction of a universal model and a reassertion of local cultural practices. The trend towards convergence arises in part from 'globalisation', from 'rule of law programs' promulgated by institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the Asian Development Bank, and from widespread migration in the region, whilst the opposing trend arises in part from moves to resist such 'globalisation'. This book explores a wide range of issues related to this key problem, covering China in particular, where resolving differences in conceptions about the rule of law is a key issue as China begins to integrate itself into the World Trade Organisation regime.

Social Issues in China

Social Issues in China
Author: Zhidong Hao
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 335
Release: 2013-08-23
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1461422248

Since 1978, the opening up and reform in China has brought tremendous economic and social changes. While China’s economic progress has been commendable, the social problems that go with economic changes have raised serious concerns. Some of those concerns are related to gender, ethnic, labor, and environmental issues. This book is about what has happened in these arenas in China since the opening up and reform in 1978. The study of gender, ethnicity, labor, and environment touches on some of the fundamental problems of modernization, especially the development of individuals and groups. So even though gender, ethnicity, labor, and environment seem to be separate issues, they are in fact related in some fundamental ways. That’s what this book will explore as well. To understand is one thing and to do is another. This book also incorporates studies of NGO practices to see how NGOs have helped in transforming gender, ethnic, labor, and environment interplay. Our study of NGOs in helping improve such interplay sheds light on how specifically civil society can prod the state to transform social relations for the better. This book is an attempt to assess the changes, both positive and negative, in gender, ethnic, ethnic, and environmental relations in China especially in the past 30 years of opening up and reform, especially regarding national identity formation. ​

Development and Democracy

Development and Democracy
Author: Sunder Ramaswamy
Publisher: UPNE
Total Pages: 326
Release: 2003
Genre: Democracy
ISBN: 9781584652755

An interdisciplinary and cross-cultural conversation about development and democracy worldwide.

Tourism, Ethnicity, and the State in Asian and Pacific Societies

Tourism, Ethnicity, and the State in Asian and Pacific Societies
Author: Michel Picard
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
Total Pages: 276
Release: 1997-05-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9780824819118

The expansion of international tourism is changing the relationship between ethnic groups and states around the globe. Yet tourism’s importance for the understanding of ethnicity in the modern world has been generally neglected within the field of ethnic studies. This pioneering volume investigates how international tourism development, state policies of ethnic management, and the active responses of local ethnic groups intersect to reshape ethnic identities and ethnic relations in Asian and Pacific societies. It analyzes the ways in which the very meaning of ethnicity and culture are being contested and reworked in the wake of tourism’s impact. Following an introduction that explores the close but often ambivalent relationship between tourism promotion and state ethnic policies, individual contributors examine tourism’s varied effects in China, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and the island Pacific in rich ethnographic detail.

Darwin and International Relations

Darwin and International Relations
Author: Bradley A. Thayer
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
Total Pages: 692
Release: 2021-03-17
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0813181445

“Shows a mastery of research and theory in both biology and international relations and weaves the two fields together in a compelling fashion.” —Dr. Steven A. Peterson, Director, School of Public Affairs, Penn State Pathbreaking and controversial, Darwin and International Relations offers the first comprehensive analysis of international affairs of state through the lens of evolutionary theory. Using ethnological and statistical studies of warfare among tribal societies, Bradley A. Thayer argues that humans wage war for reasons predicted by evolutionary theory?to gain and protect vital resources but also for the physically and emotionally stimulating effects of combat. Thayer demonstrates that an evolutionary understanding of disease will become a more important part of the study of international relations as new strains of diseases emerge and advances in genetics make biological warfare a more effective weapon for states and terrorists. He also explains the deep causes of ethnic conflict by illuminating how xenophobia and ethnocentrism evolved in humans. He notes that these behaviors once contributed to our ancestors’ success in radically different environments, but they remain a part of us. Darwin and International Relations makes a major contribution to our understanding of human history and the future of international relations. “Obligatory reading for social and life scientists alike, and deserves to become a standard work in political science.” —International History Review “A thoughtful book that can challenge some of our comfortable assumptions.” —Journal of Military History “Outstanding! This book will become a standard work in political science.” —Roger D. Masters, Dartmouth College

Multiculturalism in Asia

Multiculturalism in Asia
Author: Will Kymlicka
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 377
Release: 2005
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 019927763X

"Using both case studies and thematic essays, this volume examines the pre-colonial traditions, colonial legacies, and post-colonial ideologies that influence contemporary debates on multiculturalism in the region. It explores the areas of convergence and divergence between these different perspectives, and the extent to which they provide viable frameworks for managing ethnic and religious diversity in the region."--BOOK JACKET.