山の民から少数民族へ : タイ北部・ラフの山地民意識とその変化

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概要

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• The Lahu people, a highland dwelling ethnic minority in mainland Southeast Asia and southwest China, have historically practiced swidden agriculture, and for many generations lived and moved in areas under the pressures of diverse valley dwelling peoples. Their whole population probably exceeds 70, 000, most of whom lived in the remote areas within five modern states : China, Burma, Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam. In each of these states governed by lowland peoples, the Lahu are an ethnic minority without a country of their own. However, if we change our viewpoint, the Lahu appear as people with different attributes. While on a political map comprising modern nation-states the Lahu are divided and included in the five sovereign states, whereas on a topographic map, the Lahu settlement area appears as one geographical area and the people live in one environmental niche. Actually, in pre-modern time, natural environments were the primary condition defining the life-ways of peoples, both highlanders and lowlanders. Diverse ethnic peoples in the pre-modern Lahu settlement area interact with each other, which constituted a patterned ethnic constellation. This ethnic relation, however, began to change after Western colonialism introduced modern notions of nation-state, international boundary, and sovereignty. In the modern era, these modern ideologies have become political reality through diverse national policies for nation-building. Now, even in the remote areas where the Lahu people often find themselves, one cannot live without being influenced by a central government. The lives and the world view of the Lahu people have also become more and more conditioned by the modern conceptual framework of nation-state. However, the Lahu of North Thailand still refer to themselves as “mountain people”. This self-identification is based on the binary opposition between “mountain” and “plain” or “town”. The Lahu understand modern concepts mainly from a pre-modern worldview. Modern concepts, for example, “government” is perceived less as an abstract agency rather than as a personalized patron-like ethnic neighbor who both oppresses and supports its people. On the other hand, modern ideas, such as “state” and “development” seem to have gradually enter Lahu concepts. The present Lahu perception is based both on the pre-modern and modern conceptual frameworks, and the power relation between the two frameworks changes depending on conditions. Moreover, another huge process, “globalization”, could in the future modify the basis on which the Lahu view the world surrounding them. Studying the world-views of marginal peoples, including the Lahu, requires multiple perspectives, and should not be limited either to area or national conceptual frameworks.

• 社団法人 東京地学協会の論文

著者

• 西本 陽一

  金沢大学文学部

関連論文

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• 山の民から少数民族へ : タイ北部・ラフの山地民意識とその変化

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