ABSTRACT
The Karen are one of the major ethnic minority groups in the Himalayan highlands, living predominantly in the border area between Thailand and Burma. As the largest ethnic minority in Thailand, they have often been in conflict with the Thai majority. This book is the first major ethnographic and anthropological study of the Karen for over a decade and looks at such key issues as history, ethnic identity, religious change, the impact of government intervention, education land management and gender relations.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part I|68 pages
Negotiating an ethnic identity
chapter 2|22 pages
Constructing marginality
The ‘hill tribe' Karen and their shifting locations within Thai state and public perspectives
chapter 3|21 pages
Trapped in environmental discourses and politics of exclusion
Karen in the Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary in the context of forest and hill tribe policies in Thailand
part II|65 pages
Social practices and transformations
chapter 7|20 pages
When it is better to sing than to speak
The use of traditional verses (hta) in tense social situations (Example of a marriage ceremony in an upland Sgaw village, Chiang Mai Province)
part III|68 pages
Social and economic adaptation to government development policies
chapter 8|28 pages
Social and economic adaptations to a changing landscape
Realities, opportunities and constraints
chapter 9|27 pages
The Karen in transition from shifting cultivation to permanent farming
Testing tools for participatory land use planning at local level
