Class 14 - Race, Marriage, Census

Welcome back!

Welcome to this class. We’re going to start by exploring this paper in more detail. I’ll talk us through it, and feel free to post questions in the chat.

Break

Let’s now have a short break!

Thinking through race and identity in Myanmar, Thailand and Beyond

Let’s now discuss the text in more detail. What I want you to do is to divide into breakout groups, and talk about the following questions:

1. What sections of this paper particularly struck you as interesting or engaging?
2. Did anything in the text challenge your views of the history of race and ethnicity in Myanmar/Burma? If so, what?
3. How has bureaucracy impacted notions of race/ethnicity in Myanmar/Burma, both historically, and more recently?
4. What implications does the historical fact of extensive intermarriage in Burma/Myanmar have for how we think about race and ethnicity?
5. In what ways can Hall’s notion of race as a “floating signifier” throw light on these historical processes?

Homework

For your homework, read the paper (on the files tab) about the rising politics of indigeneity in Myanmar. We’ll move on to this topic next time.