Revisiting the wages of Burman-ness: contradictions of privilege in Myanmar
Myanmar’s much lauded but short-lived transition to a liberal capitalist order was marked by an upsurge in Islamophobia, anti-Muslim riots and the violent expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya into Bangladesh. Amid this conflagration, debates over ethnic inclusion, privilege and nationalism...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2022
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/159705 |
| _version_ | 1826119291867496448 |
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| author | Campbell, Stephen Prasse-Freeman, Elliott |
| author2 | School of Social Sciences |
| author_facet | School of Social Sciences Campbell, Stephen Prasse-Freeman, Elliott |
| author_sort | Campbell, Stephen |
| collection | NTU |
| description | Myanmar’s much lauded but short-lived transition to a liberal capitalist order was marked by an upsurge in Islamophobia, anti-Muslim riots and the violent expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya into Bangladesh. Amid this conflagration, debates over ethnic inclusion, privilege and nationalism were prominent. Yet within these debates, even seemingly antagonistic positions incorporated the class-blindness characteristic of US liberal white privilege theory. In this article, we engage these debates by recalling an earlier radical theorisation of racial privilege that later liberal conceptions went on to displace. Taking capitalist class relations seriously, we argue that, for the poor Burman, ethnic privilege has been deeply ambiguous and ultimately harmful. Burman supremacy, in short, has served as ideological-material scaffolding for the enduring subjugation of the Burman proletariat itself. In order to elaborate our argument, we tell a critical history of Burman chauvinism in Myanmar–a history that reveals “Burman-ness” as a sign not simply of ethnic/racial privilege, but of class privilege as well. |
| first_indexed | 2024-10-01T04:57:50Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | ntu-10356/159705 |
| institution | Nanyang Technological University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-10-01T04:57:50Z |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ntu-10356/1597052022-06-29T05:53:04Z Revisiting the wages of Burman-ness: contradictions of privilege in Myanmar Campbell, Stephen Prasse-Freeman, Elliott School of Social Sciences Social sciences::Sociology Ethnicity Inequality Myanmar’s much lauded but short-lived transition to a liberal capitalist order was marked by an upsurge in Islamophobia, anti-Muslim riots and the violent expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya into Bangladesh. Amid this conflagration, debates over ethnic inclusion, privilege and nationalism were prominent. Yet within these debates, even seemingly antagonistic positions incorporated the class-blindness characteristic of US liberal white privilege theory. In this article, we engage these debates by recalling an earlier radical theorisation of racial privilege that later liberal conceptions went on to displace. Taking capitalist class relations seriously, we argue that, for the poor Burman, ethnic privilege has been deeply ambiguous and ultimately harmful. Burman supremacy, in short, has served as ideological-material scaffolding for the enduring subjugation of the Burman proletariat itself. In order to elaborate our argument, we tell a critical history of Burman chauvinism in Myanmar–a history that reveals “Burman-ness” as a sign not simply of ethnic/racial privilege, but of class privilege as well. 2022-06-29T05:53:03Z 2022-06-29T05:53:03Z 2022 Journal Article Campbell, S. & Prasse-Freeman, E. (2022). Revisiting the wages of Burman-ness: contradictions of privilege in Myanmar. Journal of Contemporary Asia, 52(2), 175-199. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00472336.2021.1962390 0047-2336 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/159705 10.1080/00472336.2021.1962390 2-s2.0-85112743254 2 52 175 199 en Journal of Contemporary Asia © 2021 Journal of Contemporary Asia. All rights reserved. |
| spellingShingle | Social sciences::Sociology Ethnicity Inequality Campbell, Stephen Prasse-Freeman, Elliott Revisiting the wages of Burman-ness: contradictions of privilege in Myanmar |
| title | Revisiting the wages of Burman-ness: contradictions of privilege in Myanmar |
| title_full | Revisiting the wages of Burman-ness: contradictions of privilege in Myanmar |
| title_fullStr | Revisiting the wages of Burman-ness: contradictions of privilege in Myanmar |
| title_full_unstemmed | Revisiting the wages of Burman-ness: contradictions of privilege in Myanmar |
| title_short | Revisiting the wages of Burman-ness: contradictions of privilege in Myanmar |
| title_sort | revisiting the wages of burman ness contradictions of privilege in myanmar |
| topic | Social sciences::Sociology Ethnicity Inequality |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/159705 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT campbellstephen revisitingthewagesofburmannesscontradictionsofprivilegeinmyanmar AT prassefreemanelliott revisitingthewagesofburmannesscontradictionsofprivilegeinmyanmar |