Imperialism, Colonialism and their Contribution to the Formation of Malay and Chinese Ethnicity: An Historical Analysis

Ethnicity is a complex concept which is easily taken as a primordialnotion inherited from previous generations. This primordial understanding ofethnicity continues to dominate post-independence Malaysian authority andeveryday actors based on two factors. First, the lack of any critical historicalana...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Ismail, Khauthar (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: [publisher not identified] 2020
In: Intellectual discourse
Year: 2020, Volume: 28, Issue: 1, Pages: 171-193
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
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Summary:Ethnicity is a complex concept which is easily taken as a primordialnotion inherited from previous generations. This primordial understanding ofethnicity continues to dominate post-independence Malaysian authority andeveryday actors based on two factors. First, the lack of any critical historicalanalysis for understanding the present situation. Second, there are social,economic and political needs for maintaining the separation of ethnicitieswhich consequently maintain the imperial and colonial epistemologicalunderstanding of ‘race’ in the present State ethnic bureaucratic system. Themain objective of this article is to present a sociological review of the longtermeffects of imperialism and colonialism on the formation and developmentof the two principal Malaysian ethnic groups - Malays and Chinese - throughselected major phases in Malaysia’s history. The outcomes suggest that theethnic boundaries of Malaysian Malays and Chinese were gradually built,institutionalized and intensified over time rather than being primordiallyinherited from their ancestors.
ISSN:2289-5639
Contains:Enthalten in: Intellectual discourse