Author: Rajat Ganguly
Ian Macduff/
Editor(s): Rajat Ganguly / Ian Macduff
Publisher: Sage Publications
Year: 2003
Language: English
Pages: 292
ISBN/UPC (if available): 0761996044
Description
The flaws and contradictions in the process of post-colonial nation building in many countries of South and Southeast Asia have been highlighted by the intractable and continuing phenomenon of ethnic conflict. This volume incisively analyses six such ethnic conflicts in the region to understand their dynamics and wider impact.
Persisting secessionist ethnic conflicts are damaging Asian societies from within. In such a scenario the two most pertinent questions are: one, why at a given point of time and space certain conflicts are precipitated while diverse ethnic groups happily co-exist, even prosper, elsewhere; and two, why some of the secessionists succeed while others do not?
The six case studies chosen from South and Southeast Asia in the volume do not endorse primordial theories, and rightly so. Structural explanations advanced herein clearly centre on the State, and hold rising sectarianism and failure of governance responsible for these conflicts. The external factor indeed plays a critical role, not only in vitiating these conflicts, but also in influencing their respective end-games. East Timor was a clear example of this. Though external involvement is increasingly visible in South Asian conflicts, its precise effect is difficult to determine even as it is unclear if secessionists will succeed in Jaffna and Kashmir.
Any serious attempt that helps enhance our understanding of and responses to these conflicts, both in intellectual and in policy terms is welcome. More so like the present one by Ganguly and Macduff, which puts these conflicts in a comparative framework for an incisive theoretical scrutiny.
Contents
Foreword
INTRODUCTION: The Challenge of Ethnic Insurgency and
Secession in South and Southeast Asia
CHAPTER 1
Secessionist Ethnic Conflict in South and Southeast Asia: A Comparative Perspective
CHAPTER 2
An Area of Darkness, Still? The Political Evolution of Ethnic Identities in Jammu and Kashmir, 1947- 2001
CHAPTER 3
Ethnic Conflict in Singh and its Impact on Pakistan
CHAPTER 4
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam Insurgency in Sri Lanka
CHAPTER 5
Indonesia’s East Timor Experience
CHAPTER 6
Ethno-communal conflict in the Philippines: The Case
Of Mindanao-Sulu Region
CHAPTER 7
Ethnosecession in Papua New Guinea: The Bougainville Case
CONCLUSION
About the Contributors
Index