Revolution as Development: The Karen Self-Determination Struggle Against Ethnocracy (1949 - 2004) [Paperback]

Jack C Fong (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2, 2008

The Karen Revolution for self-determination has the distinction of being one of the world's longest-running struggles for freedom, having begun in 1949 and continuing to this very moment. This sociological work makes visible how ethnopolitical, petropolitical, geopolitical, and ecosystemic issues affect the political economy of a people experiencing ethnic cleansing. From the inception of its self-determination struggle in 1949, readers will be taken on a historical journey with the Karen, finally "arriving" in the 21st century. Along the way, the author exposes readers to the anatomy of how Karen revolutionary dynamics attempt to shield the Karen people against internal colonization committed by the various military regimes of Burma, and how these complex dynamics engaged by Karen revolutionaries-in a novel reformulation and reading that transcends oversimplified economisitic indicators of progress-constitute development. A study of revolution that moves beyond the simplicity of a clashing dualism exemplified by Aung San Suu Kyi pitted against the military regime, this text is for readers desiring to examine how other significant players such as the Karen, a proud people living in systemic crisis, construct nation and aspire toward democracy in the labyrinthine ethnopolitical terrain of Burma.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Dr. Jack Fong is Assistant Professor of Sociology in the Department of Psychology and Sociology, at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. His political sociological interests revolve around Southeast Asian political change, anti-systemic nationalisms, the role of ethnicity in development, and social transformations and reconfigurations that are associated with systemic crisis.

Product Details

• Paperback: 376 pages
• Publisher: Universal Publishers (April 2, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1599429942
• ISBN-13: 978-1599429946
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,402,797 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Passionate & Well-reasoned defense of the Karen people's struggle in Burma/Myanmar, September 11, 2008

By 

Dimostenis Yagcioglu (Athens, Greece) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Revolution as Development: The Karen Self-Determination Struggle Against Ethnocracy (1949 - 2004) (Paperback)

Burma/Myanmar has attracted the world's attention a lot more lately: Last September, there were the protests of the Buddhist monks against the military regime. Early this year we saw the massive devastation caused by the cyclone Nargis and the inept way the crisis was handled by the Burmese regime, coupled with its phobic reaction toward any western rescue and relief offer. Tens of thousands of people could have been saved, had these offers been accepted. The international community is generally aware of the oppressiveness of the Burmese military dictatorship, and the ongoing struggle for democracy in that country under the leadership of Aung San Suu Kyi. However, very few people have any information about the ethnic groups in Burma that struggle for self-government and fight against assimilation and ethnic cleansing. The most important of these ethnic groups is the Karen people.

The book "Revolution as Development", by Jack Fong, an assistant professor of sociology at California State Polytechnic University in Pomona, is arguably the best as yet account and analysis of the Karen struggle. The Karen people have been fighting since 1949 the military dictatorship, first for a separate state and then for a greater autonomy within Burma.

Dr. Fong went to the area known as Kawthoolei, controlled by the Karen liberation movement, interviewed the guerrillas and, more importantly, their leaders. Given the volatile and dangerous situation in the Karen region, one cannot but admire the courage of the author in visiting that area and carrying out research there, and his commitment to the values that underlie this undertaking!

Dr. Fong, through a thorough historical, political and geopolitical analysis, helps readers understand that the Karen people had no other choice but to engage in an armed struggle against the Burmese regime's forced assimilation and internal colonization policies (officially known as the "Four Cuts" strategy). He maintains that it is very important for the world to support this self-determination struggle, lest the Karen people be obliterated by the Burmese government's genocidal policies.

The author plaintively mentions several times in the book that the Karen armed struggle has been overlooked while Suu Kyi's approach based on satyagraha has received admiration and support. That is true, of course, but one should take into account that the Karen struggle has been taking place in remote areas, difficult for the media to access, whereas it is relatively easier to collect information about what is going on in Rangoon. In fact, I would suggest that it is *because* the media can report on Suu Kyi's and her supporters' activities and the military's violent response to them that her movement has managed to conduct a satyagraha-like non-violent struggle. In other words, the media have, willingly or unwillingly, been her allies. As George Orwell said in his essay entitled "Reflections on Gandhi", the Mahatma "believed in 'arousing the world', which is only possible if the world gets a chance to hear what you are doing." (George Orwell, "Reflections on Gandhi", from Sonia Orwell & Ian Angus (eds.), The Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters of Greorge Orwell, Volume IV: In Front of Your Nose 1945-1950, Middlesex, UK: Penguin Books, 1980; p.529)

As regards the theoretical infrastructure of the book, I think its most interesting aspect is the ingenious use of the following two concepts, first introduced to the social sciences by Rodolfo Stavenhagen:

Ethnocracy: The political domination of an ethnic group within a multiethnic setting, and

Ethnodevelopment: A development strategy according to which the state fosters development of ethic groups within the framework of a larger, multiethnic, society. This strategy dictates that development policies should be sensitive to the needs of ethnic minorities and indigenous peoples, and that these groups, where possible, should have a great deal of control over them.

According to Dr. Fong, Burma, since its independence, has clearly been an ethnocracy where ethnic Burmese have maintained dominance over all the other ethnic groups. And the way the Burmese regime perceives development is the exact opposite of an "ethnodevelopment" strategy.

Dr. Fong also proposes a new term, "liberation ethnodevelopment", to describe the sum of the economic, social and political policies designed and pursued by KNU, a military-political organization that plays the role of a quasi-government for the Karen people. In fact, these policies are so comprehensive and far-reaching that Fong maintains that the KNU has been in the process of "constructing a Karen nation that can exist in a federalized Burma" (p. 355)

Another very important aspect of the book's theoretical basis is the view that ethnicity "apart from its intimate links to a cultural system, is also very much a development system, comprised of political institutions and political relationships" (p.22).

I think the weakest point in this book is when Dr. Fong argues that the KNU could bring forth democracy in the entire Burma. I could imagine a scenario where a KNU success in the Karen region might weaken the Burmese military, which, in turn, could lead to the opening-up of the Burmese political system and some power-sharing talks with the Aung San Suu Kyi's NLD. But even in that case, democracy would come to Burma only under the NLD leadership. KNU may stop oppression and ethnic cleansing in the Karen Region, and in fact it has already been partially successful in that. But can it really bring democracy and freedom? We will see - when the fighting stops, of course-- to what extent the KNU, a necessarily militarized organization, would allow opposition parties or rival groups and an open competition for power in the Karen region.

Finally, I would like to comment on the writing of this book: Though Dr. Fong is a scholar, his book is written with compassion and spirit. It is hard not to be impressed by the force of his passion.

I would certainly recommend this book to everyone interested in ethnic conflicts and in Southeast Asian politics.