The Ethno-Narcotic Politics of the Shan People : Fighting with Drugs, Fighting for the Nation on the Thai-Burmese Border

This book proposes the alternative explanation on the pattern of ethnic conflict, especially the on-going civil war in Myanmar. Previously, most scholars accepted that narcotics play the crucial role in conflict as the resource of revenues. However, this book dramatically changes what we have ever thought before. It investigated in both field and documentary research by examining the role of narcotics in the ideological formation process and ethnic identification process. Consequently, the so-called ethno-narcotic politics was found in the way that the role of narcotics was able to be used as the source of political mobilization in various ways. Furthermore, the borderland is the appropriated area where the process of anti-ethno-narcotics identification could be emerged and later used as the main identity for the ethnic groups who remain fighting against state's power. Why (anti- ) ethno-narcotic politics? -- The Shan people in the unfinished civil war -- The anti-narcotic ideology of the Thai state on the Thai-Burmese border -- The anti-ethno-narcotic nationalism in ethnic conflict -- Ethnic identity and community : Hin Taek village as the site of reconstruction of Shan identity -- Conclusion : trajectories of anti-ethno-narcotic politicization "This study examines the role of narcotics in the ethnic conflict along the Thai-Burmese border. The author analyzes the impact of the war on drugs on the Shan people, their relationship with the state, and their communal identity"-- Provided by publisher