Repossessing Shanland: Myanmar, Thailand, and a Nation-State Deferred

The Shan people of Southeast Asia have long fought for independence from Myanmar, but successive military governments have blocked their liberation. Refugees numbering in the hundreds of thousands fled to Thailand to escape the conflict, and a virtual Shan state has been constructed in popular media, rock music, and Buddhist ritual. Jane M. Ferguson's book Repossessing Shanland offers a fresh perspective on identity formation, transformation, and how people understand and experience borderlands today, avoiding a good/bad moral binary and illuminating cultural complexities.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 320 pages
Publication date: 06 September 2022
Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press

The Shan people, who make up around five million people across Southeast Asia, have a long history of struggle for independence. Despite being promised an independent state in the 1947 Union of Burma constitution, successive military governments have blocked their liberation. Since 1958, insurgency movements, including the Shan United Revolution Army, have fought for independence from Myanmar. This conflict has led to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of refugees, who have fled to Thailand to escape the violence.

For several decades, the Shan have been engaged in continuous rebellion, creating a vacuum in which literati and politicians have constructed a virtual Shan state that lives on in popular media, rock music, and Buddhist ritual. In her book, Repossessing Shanland, Jane M. Ferguson provides a detailed account of the origins of these movements and tells the story of the Shan in their own words.

Ferguson's research is based on close readings of Shan-language media and years of ethnographic research in a community of soldiers and their families. She shows how the Shan have forged a homeland and identity during great upheaval by using state building as an ongoing project of resistance, resilience, and accommodation within both countries. By avoiding a good/bad moral binary and illuminating cultural complexities, Repossessing Shanland offers a fresh perspective on identity formation, transformation, and how people understand and experience borderlands today.

The book explores the complex relationship between the Shan and the Myanmar government, as well as the broader political and social context in which they operate. Ferguson highlights the ways in which the Shan have resisted and adapted to the pressures of state building, while also engaging with the broader regional and global dynamics that shape their lives.

One of the key themes of the book is the role of culture in shaping identity and resistance. Ferguson argues that the Shan have used cultural practices and traditions to maintain their sense of identity and resistance, even in the face of political and social marginalization. She explores the ways in which the Shan have preserved their language, music, and religious practices, and how these practices have been used to mobilize and organize resistance movements.

Another important theme of the book is the impact of borders on identity and resistance. Ferguson shows how the Shan have negotiated the borders between Myanmar and Thailand, as well as the broader borders of Southeast Asia, to create spaces for resistance and self-determination. She explores the ways in which the Shan have used borders as both barriers and opportunities, and how they have adapted to the changing political and social landscape in the region.

Repossessing Shanland is a valuable contribution to the study of identity, resistance, and borderlands. Ferguson's detailed research and thoughtful analysis provide a fresh perspective on the Shan people and their struggle for independence. The book will be of interest to scholars and researchers in the fields of anthropology, history, and politics, as well as anyone who is interested in understanding the complexities of identity formation and resistance in the context of borderlands.

Dimension: 229 x 152 x 18 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780299333041