ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the key concepts covered in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book analyzes the practice of camp management, administration of justice and the consequences of legal pluralism. The book presents the Karen in Burma: conflict and displacement, provides a political background to the creation of the refugee camps, with an overview of Burma's ethnic politics and Karen experiences of colonization, nationalism, conflict and displacement. It demonstrates that the refugee camps in Thailand are indeed dynamic societies with their own shared culture and social norms. The book details the ways in which an ethno-national Karen community is constructed and mobilized in the refugee camps, including through narrative and memorialization, language and clothing. The book concludes with a discussion of the impact of a legally pluralistic environment and the opportunity for the manipulation of values in forum shopping between legal orders.
