ABSTRACT
One of the defining elements of Myanmar is its ethnic diversity. However, this diversity has resulted in national identity being one of the most contested aspects of the modern Burmese polity. The Burman identity that dominates in virtually every sphere nationally has been reinforced by five decades of military rule; but similarly domineering processes of hegemonic identity-creation have occurred within many of the country’s other ethnic identities. By analysing shifting dynamics of ethnic politics through different eras in Myanmar’s modern history and at sub-national levels, this chapter balances an understanding that ethnic identity is constructed with (and thus, contingent on) recognition that ethnicity and its effects are nonetheless real and politically impactful.
