Towards an Inclusive Multinational Society in Myanmar : Ethnic Perceptions and State Building

Abstract

Democratic transitions in multinational countries can be problematic when ethnic minorities are excluded from a dominant majority group’s vision of the nation. This is the case in Myanmar where, since independence was granted in 1948, ethnic people’s aspirations have clashed with the military’s vision of a centralised state and a national identity based on the Bamar majority group. Consequently, civil war has been raging for more than 70 years, and discrimination of ethnic groups has been gradually institutionalised. Thus, in order to support peace, one of the main challenges of state building in Myanmar will be to develop institutions that reflect the multinational character of the country. In this thesis, I argue that more attention should be paid to the perceptions of the broader ethnic population. Employing a political ethnographic design, I seek to reveal people’s lived experiences of ethnicity in the current democratic transition to suggest state building strategies promoting national belonging.

Focusing on the perceptions of two groups, the Mon and the Pa-O, my findings suggest: First, that they experience the institutional dominance of the Bamar group as a number of cultural, economic, social and political insecurities; second, while Mon and Pa-O attitudes indicate a tendency towards rigid ethnic identification, Bamar chauvinism appears to be the main obstacle to inclusiveness; third, Mon and Pa-O aspirations show that redressing Bamar privilege through institutional reforms bringing about equality of status and greater autonomy would positively support a sense of belonging to the national identity; and finally, I found that among the existing institutional models advanced by the ethnic conflict management literature, the state-nation model reflects most closely Mon and Pa-O aspirations because its policies aim to protect ethnic identities while also promoting national membership. The state-nation model is not a perfect fit, however because its proposed policy sequence prioritises constitutional amendments that do not appear politically feasible in present day Myanmar. I therefore recommend the prioritisation of policies that support a sense of belonging such as symbolic recognition, access to opportunities or cultural autonomy. I argue that since these policies do not directly challenge the political order and the existence of Bamar privilege, they would positively support trust building and thus peace.