Premium
Reframing the Boundaries of Indigeneity: State‐Based Ontologies and Assertions of Distinction and Compatibility in Thailand
Author(s) -
Morton Micah F.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
american anthropologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.51
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1548-1433
pISSN - 0002-7294
DOI - 10.1111/aman.12948
Subject(s) - indigenous , assamese , cognitive reframing , optimal distinctiveness theory , nationalism , ethnic group , gender studies , sociology , state (computer science) , anthropology , political science , law , politics , social psychology , psychology , linguistics , philosophy , ecology , algorithm , computer science , biology
In this article, I discuss the concept of Indigeneity as it is being localized in post‐2000s Thailand by a coalition of ethnic minorities. Their claim of Indigeneity is unique in purporting a state‐based ontology that identifies the rise of the modern Thai state with that of their Indigeneity, reflecting the problematic nature in Thailand of claims to first peoples’ status. The Thai state has long perceived of these yet‐to‐be‐recognized Indigenous Peoples as “illegal migrants.” Indigenous Peoples are working to assert not only their cultural distinctiveness but also their compatibility with the nation, especially via public performances of their loyalty to the Thai king. While their performances of Indigeneity are necessarily conforming to Thai nationalist expectations of ethnicity and belonging, Indigenous Peoples are reworking those expectations in a manner allowing them to get their own interpretations of history and systems of value recognized and distributed to larger audiences. [ Indigeneity, performance, cunning of the unrecognized, royalist nationalism, Thailand ]