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In Search of Chin Identity
A Study in Religion, Politics and Ethnic Identity in Burma
by Lian H. Sakhong
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304 pp., illustrations & maps NIAS Monographs # 91 Available from NIAS Press worldwide |
• First in-depth study on Chin nationalism and Christianity.
• Contains valuable data on the Chin and their role in the history of Burma.
• Provides a clear analysis of the close relationship between religion, ethnicity and nationalism.
Prior to British annexation in 1896, Chinram was an independent country ruled by traditional tribal and local chiefs. Annexation saw the land divided between India and Burma and Chin society abruptly transformed, not least by the arrival of Christian missionaries. The conversion of the Chin to Christianity from traditional locally based Chin religion had unintended consequences as the Chin became involved in Burmese independence movements. They began to articulate their own Christian traditions of democracy and assert a burgeoning self-awareness of their own national identity. Moreover, the church has taken a key role in the struggle of Chin liberation movements in Burma and India. Just how Christianity has provided the Chin people with a means of preserving their national identity in the midst of multi-ethnic and multi-religious environments is the main focus of this study.
Written by an exiled former Secretary General of the Chin National League for Democracy, this study contains valuable data on the Chin and their role in the history of Burma, and provides a clear analysis of the close relationship between religion, ethnicity and nationalism.
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- Aug. 9 2019Carol Ann Boshier's book 'Mapping Cultural Nationalism: The Scholars of the Burma Research Society,1910-1935' has been shortlisted for the EuroSEAS Humanities Book Prize 2019. Congratulations!
