Communalism and the Pursuit of Democracy
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"Beyond the dichotomy of primordiality and transactionalism in anthropological theory, Professor Tan Chee-Beng adduces evolutionary psychology to illuminate the phenomenon of ethnic/communal conflict in modern democracies. He suggests that a combination of conviviality and somewhat utopian sense of cosmopolitanism amongst 'ethnies' would be needed to combat ethnic nationalism by civic or civil nationalism. The argument concerning ethnic conundrum and its possible resolution is grounded in apt illustrations from Malaysia, the U.S.A., and the People's Republic of China among other parts of the world. It is an original and provocative contribution to global studies indeed." (Ravindra Jain, Former Professor of Sociology and Social Anthropology and Dean, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi)More details
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Person
Chee-Beng Tan has taught at the University of Singapore, University of Malaya, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou. He is currently Adjunct Professor, CUHK, and Adjunct Professor, Tunku Abdul Rahman University. A cultural anthropologist, he has done research in Malaysia and China. His major publications include, as author, The Baba of Melaka (2021, new edition by SIRD), Chinese Religion in Malaysia (Brill, 2018), Chinese Overseas: Comparative Cultural Issues (Hong Kong University Press, 2004), The Development and Distribution of Dejiao Associations in Malaysia and Singapore (ISEAS, 1985), and as editor, After Migration and Religious Affiliation (World Scientific, 2015), Routledge Handbook of the Chinese Overseas (Routledge, 2013), Chinese Food and Foodways in Southeast Asia and Beyond (NUS Press, 2011), Chinese Transnational Networks (Routledge, 2007), and Southern Fujian: Production of Traditions in Post-Mao China (The Chinese University Press, 2006).
Content
1. Introduction.- 2. Evolution and Ethnicity.- 3. Communal Politics and Nationhood: Malaysia.- 4. Race and Democracy in USA Compared to Malaysia.- 5. Being, Racialism and Democracy.- 6. Conclusion.