<論文>ミャンマーの「ダウェー人」をめぐる民族分類と民族主義 --公定民族分類は民族境界の固定化につながるのか?--

Abstract

For many in Myanmar, it remains ambiguous whether the Dawei comprise a distinct ethnic group or are simply a regional people who speak a dialect of the majority Burmese language. This paper investigates what actors recognize the Dawei as an ethnic group in Myanmar and what influence such recognition has on their ethnic sentiment. The Dawei have been officially regarded as a distinct ethnic sub-group of the Burmese according to the ethnic classification systems used in Myanmar during the dynasty periods, the British colonial period, and the post-1990 period. The ethno-nationalistic actions of the Dawei have been comparatively modest, even after Myanmar gained independence and many ethnic groups began armed insurrections. This stands in sharp contrast to the Rakhine, an ethnic group that similarly speaks a language closely related to Burmese but that has actively conducted a nationalistic movement. In the general elections of 2010 ethnicity became electorally politicized, but in 2015 the Dawei political party won no legislative seats, while the Rakhine won the most seats of any ethnic political party. Such a contrast indicates that official recognition of ethnicity does not necessarily stimulate ethno-nationalistic action, an indication which runs counter to existing accounts that overemphasize the importance of official ethnic or other social boundaries created by modern states.