Abstract
Partially rooted in British colonial ethnology and administration, the ethnic categories of the 2014 Myanmar census have attracted controversy, particularly from representatives of non-Burman political organizations. The categories themselves, as well as the bureaucratic exercise of the census, have a complex genealogy which offers considerable insight into understanding the contemporary situation. Drawing from Hirschman's theory that the study of measurements of ethnicity is a unique resource for understanding the meaning of ethnicity in a society, this article discusses the controversy surrounding the 2014 census, and how some census-related issues have been crucially framed by bureaucratic structures that came before.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1-28 |
Number of pages | 28 |
Journal | Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde |
Volume | 171 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2015 |
Externally published | Yes |