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7 - Myanmar (Burma)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 September 2009

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Summary

Nagaland is not the only region where Baptist Christianity plays an overwhelmingly important role in politics. The same holds true for parts of neighbouring Burma inhabited by ethnic minorities such as the Kachin and the Karen. The national and religious contexts are, however, very different: instead of Indian democracy, the notorious Burmese military regime; instead of the Indian ethnic patchwork, one numerically dominant group (the Burmans) imposing an ‘ethnocratic state’ (Brown 1994); instead of Nehruvian secularism, an aggressively religious state which belies Buddhism's reputation in the West for ‘tolerance’; and instead of a recognised Naga federal state contested by underground independence movements, an unrecognised independent Karen state in rebellion against the central government.

Burma (now known officially as Myanmar) came gradually under British colonial rule during the nineteenth century. In the lowland and more developed ethnically Burman areas, colonial administration was direct and the monarchy was abolished, creating a political vacuum later filled by resurgent monastic Buddhism. In the anti-colonial struggle, Buddhism became ‘the most important element of Burman identity’ (ibid.: 43). But as often in Asia, religion is intertwined with ethnicity in state-building. The non-Burman hill tribes were governed indirectly in the colonial period, and some became incorporated as lower-level civil servants and soldiers. Since independence in 1948, the Union of Burma has largely pursued an ‘ethnocratic’ agenda, in which the state acts as agent for the ethnic majority in promoting its own ethnic values as the core component of nationalist ideology.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2001

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  • Myanmar (Burma)
  • Paul Freston
  • Book: Evangelicals and Politics in Asia, Africa and Latin America
  • Online publication: 22 September 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511487705.010
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  • Myanmar (Burma)
  • Paul Freston
  • Book: Evangelicals and Politics in Asia, Africa and Latin America
  • Online publication: 22 September 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511487705.010
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Myanmar (Burma)
  • Paul Freston
  • Book: Evangelicals and Politics in Asia, Africa and Latin America
  • Online publication: 22 September 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511487705.010
Available formats
×