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Description

Do authoritarian regimes manage ethnic pluralism better than democracies? Is the process of democratization itself destructive of inter-ethnic accomodation? The notable contributors to Democratization and Identity explore and challenge such arguments as they introduce the experiences of East and Southeast Asia into the study of democratization in ethnically (including religiously) diverse societies. This insightful volume views political regimes and ethnic identities as co-constitutive: authoritarianism, democratization, and democracy are interconnected processes of (re)producing collective (including ethnic) identities and political power, under the influence of entrenched and evolving sociopolitical relations and forms of economic production. Democratization and Identity suggests that the risk of ethnicized conflict, exclusion, or hierarchy during democratization depends in large part on the nature of the ethnic identities and relations constituted during authoritarian rule. This collection's theoretical breakthroughs and its country case studies shed light on the prospects for ethnically inclusive and non-hierarchical democratization across East and Southeast Asia and beyond.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Political Regimes and Ethnic Identities in East and Southeast Asia: Beyond the "Asian Values" Debate
Part 2 Debating Theories and Concepts
Chapter 3 Is Democracy the "Least Bad" System for Minority Groups?
Chapter 4 The Democratization of National Identity
Chapter 5 Understanding Contending Nationalist Identities: Reading Ernest Gellner and Benedict Anderson from Taiwan
Chapter 6 The Political Economy and Cultural Politics of Ethnic Conflict in Asia
Part 7 Reflecting on East Asia
Chapter 8 The Politics of Recognition in Contemporary Japan
Chapter 9 Ethnic Identity in China: The Rising Politics of Cultural Difference
Chapter 10 Democratic Transition and Cultural Diversity: Buddhist Organizations and Identity Construction in Taiwan
Part 11 Reflecting on Southeast Asia
Chapter 12 Democratization and Religious and Nationalist Conflict in Post-Suharto Indonesia
Chapter 13 Democracy, Nationalism, and Ethnic Identity: The Philippines and East Timor Compared
Chapter 14 Elusive Democracy: Appropriation of "Rights" Ideologies in Malaysian Ethnic and Religious Political Discourse

Product details

Published Dec 05 2006
Format Paperback
Edition 1st
Extent 276
ISBN 9780739107676
Imprint Lexington Books
Dimensions 9 x 6 inches
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Anthology Editor

Susan J. Henders

Contributor

Daniel A. Bell

Contributor

David Brown

Contributor

Chang Maukuei

Contributor

Dru C. Gladney

Contributor

John Lie

Contributor

Judith Nagata

Contributor

David Wurfel

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