1. Faces of Islam in Southern Thailand
- Author:
- Imtiyaz Yusuf
- Publication Date:
- 03-2007
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- East-West Center
- Abstract:
- Several commentators and analyst have talked about the on ongoing unrest in southern Thailand from the perspective of the engagement of international terrorism, security issues, center ‐ periphery relations, organized crime and the drug industry. But none of them have written about the role of religion and ethnicity in the crisis. This monograph argues that the roots of the crisis in southern Thailand lie in the role of religion viewed from the point of ethnic identity. The phenomena of ethnification of religion is very much evident in Southeast Asia where religions function along ethnic lines; here a Malay is a Muslim, a Siamese/Thai a Buddhist and a Chinese either a Christian or Taoist/Buddhist syncretic. Thus ethnoreligious constructs shape identities. Hence, it is important to look into the blending of ethnicity and religion and how the constant transformation of these two factors alter the shape of the ongoing crisis in southern Thailand.
- Topic:
- Political Violence, Ethnic Conflict, Islam, Religion, and Armed Struggle
- Political Geography:
- China, Thailand, and Southeast Asia