Democracy and National Identity in Thailand (Rethinking Southeast Asia)

Connors, Michael Kelly

ISBN 10: 0415272300 / ISBN 13: 9780415272308

Published by RoutledgeCurzon, London, 2002

About this Item

Summary:Explores the process of democratization in Thailand from the overthrow of the monarchist state in the 1930s to the present day and examines this development institutionally and ideologically through key issues.

Seller Inventory # dmc302

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Democracy and National Identity in Thailand (Rethinking Southeast Asia)
• Publisher: RoutledgeCurzon, London
• Publication Date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0415272300
• ISBN 13: 9780415272308
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: New
• Seller catalogs:
  • Southeast Asia

About this title

Synopsis

This book seeks to illuminate how Thai elites have used democracy as an instrument for order and discipline. Drawing on interviews, numerous Thai language sources, and critical theory, the author reveals a remarkable adaptation of the idea of democracy in the Thai context. Connors shows how elites have drawn on Western political theory to design projects to create modern citizens. He argues that it is possible to see the idea and practice of elite liberal democracy in Thailand, and elsewhere, as a key ideological resource in the project of securing hegemony over undisciplined populations. In this perspective the ideas of civil society, civic virtue, social capital and democracy itself are all part of the weaponry deployed in an effort to create 'good citizens', who act as guardians of the elite defined common good.

About the Author

Michael Kelly Connors is Lecturer in Politics at La Trobe University, Melbourne. He has written articles for journals such as Democratization, Journal of Contemporary Asia and Thamyris, an International Journal of Feminist Inquiry.