Ethnic and Religious Identities and Integration in Southeast Asia

The research presented in this volume analyzes the impact of ethnic change and religious traditions on local, national, and regional identities. Case studies include the Bru population in Laos/Vietnam, hill tribe populations without citizenship in northern Thailand, the Lua also in northern Thailand, the Pakistani community in Penang, the Rohingya in Myanmar, the Leke religious movement in Thailand/Myanmar, political Islam in Indonesia, Sufi Muslims in Thailand, pluralism in Penang, the Preah Vihear dispute between Thailand and Cambodia, and hero cult worship in Lan Na.

Historians and social anthropologists variously tackle these issues of identity and integration within the kaleidoscope of ethnicities, religions, languages, and cultures that make up Southeast Asia.

Ooi Keat Gin is professor of history and coordinator of the Asia Pacific Research Unit, Universiti Sains Malaysia. Volker Grabowsky is professor of Thai studies in the Department of Languages and Cultures of Southeast Asia, University of Hamburg.