The State, Development and Identity in Multi-Ethnic Societies: Ethnicity, Equity and the Nation

The controversial work of Amy Chua argues that, as rapid modernization, industrialization, technological change and globalization bring about fundamental changes in national, ethnic and class identities, especially in developing countries, there is a danger that the laissez-faire capitalist system will cause serious racial conflagration, especially in societies where there is ethnic minority market dominance, combined with ethno-nationalist-type politicians who mobilize support from ethnic majority communities by drawing attention to inequalities in wealth distribution. This controversial work goes on to argue for an authoritarian political system, with curbs against the corporate expansion of enterprises owned by ethnic minorities, until parity in equity ownership among all communities is achieved. This book tests the assumptions behind these arguments, discussing ethnic communities, identity, economy, society and state, and the links between them, in a range of countries in East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific, and diaspora communities of Asian peoples in the West. It demonstrates that identity transformation occurs as generations of minority communities succeed each other, that old discourses of fixed origins which are assumed to bind ethnic communities into cohesive wholes do not apply, that there are very extensive inter-linkages in the daily activities of people of different ethnic and religious backgrounds, that affirmative action-type policies along racial lines can undermine overall societal cohesion, and that there is no case for limiting democracy until economic equity is achieved. This is a rich, important book, with huge implications for economic development and for states throughout the world as multi-ethnic societies world-wide become more extensive and more complicated.

Table of Contents:
Introduction Edmund Terence Gomez 1. Ethnicity Nicholas Tarling 2. Inter-Ethnic Relations, Identity and Business: The Chinese in Britain and Malaysia Edmund Terence Gomez 3. Beyond Reductionism: State, Ethnicity and Public Policy in Plural Societies Yeoh Kok Kheng 4. Ethnic Identity Formation: The Case of Second-Generation Chinese and Vietnamese in the United States Rebecca Kim 5. A World on Fire? Some Notes on Burma Alfred Oehlers 6. Hidden in Plain View: Singapore’s Race and Ethnicity Policies Nicole Tarulevicz 7. The State and Public Policies, Civil Society and Identity Formation in Multi-Ethnic Societies: The Case of the Chinese in the Philippines Teresita Ang-See 8. The Politics of Redefining Ethnic Identity in Indonesia: Smothering the Fires in Lombok with Democracy Kendra Clegg 9. Development of China’s Ethnic Minority Areas: The State and the Market Xin Chen 10. Public Policies and Ethnic Relations in Sri Lanka S.T. Hettige 11. A Nation Within? Maori People and Autonomy in New Zealand, 1840-2004 Danny Keenan