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Palgrave Macmillan

Communalism and the Pursuit of Democracy

A Reflection on the Eradication of Racialism and Promoting Social Harmony

  • Book
  • © 2023

Overview

Authors:
  1. Chee-Beng Tan

    1. The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong

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  • Provides a concise explanation of the persistence of racialism
  • Addresses the relationship between the politics of race and the functioning of democracy
  • Offers an argument to the need to pursue a more ideal democracy

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Table of contents (6 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xi
    Download chapter PDF

  2. Introduction

    • Tan Chee-Beng
    Pages 1-8

  3. Evolution and Ethnicity

    • Tan Chee-Beng
    Pages 9-22

  4. Communal Politics and Nationhood: Malaysia

    • Tan Chee-Beng
    Pages 23-37

  5. Race and Democracy in the USA Compared to Malaysia

    • Tan Chee-Beng
    Pages 39-52

  6. Being, Racialism, and Democracy

    • Tan Chee-Beng
    Pages 53-70

  7. Conclusion

    • Tan Chee-Beng
    Pages 71-82

  8. Back Matter

    Pages 83-87
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Keywords

About this book

This Palgrave Pivot examines why racialism is so persistent and the challenges it poses to the functioning of democracy and the attainment of national integration. It introduces an evolutionary psychology framework, which explains human innate potential to identify with and defend one’s group, but argues that racial dislike and conflicts are provoked by racial ideologies and the politics of ethnicity. By comparing the politics of race in a number of countries, including Malaysia and the United States, this book argues that attachment to one’s ethnic and religious identities does not hinder ethnic harmony. It is necessary to manage the issues of race and religion as well as promoting conviviality and cosmopolitanism for pursuing the ideal of common humanity and for maintaining a stable and meaningful democracy. This book concludes that democracy, as practiced, has some major weaknesses; as an ideal, it is still the best form of government to pursue. 

Reviews

“Beyond the dichotomy of primordiality and transactionalism in anthropological theory, Professor Tan Chee-Beng adduces evolutionary psychology to illuminate the phenomenon of ethnic/communal conflict in modern democracies. He suggests that a combination of conviviality and somewhat utopian sense of cosmopolitanism amongst 'ethnies' would be needed to combat ethnic nationalism by civic or civil nationalism. The argument concerning ethnic conundrum and its possible resolution is grounded in apt illustrations from Malaysia, the U.S.A., and the People's Republic of China among other parts of the world. It is an original and provocative contribution to global studies indeed.” (Ravindra Jain, Former Professor of Sociology and Social Anthropology and Dean, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi)

Authors and Affiliations

  • The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong

    Chee-Beng Tan

About the author

Chee-Beng Tan has taught at the University of Singapore, University of Malaya, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou. He is currently Adjunct Professor, CUHK, and Adjunct Professor, Tunku Abdul Rahman University. A cultural anthropologist, he has done research in Malaysia and China. His major publications include, as author, The Baba of Melaka (2021, new edition by SIRD), Chinese Religion in Malaysia (Brill, 2018), Chinese Overseas: Comparative Cultural Issues (Hong Kong University Press, 2004), The Development and Distribution of Dejiao Associations in Malaysia and Singapore (ISEAS, 1985), and as editor, After Migration and Religious Affiliation (World Scientific, 2015), Routledge Handbook of the Chinese Overseas (Routledge, 2013), Chinese Food and Foodways in Southeast Asia and Beyond (NUS Press, 2011), Chinese Transnational Networks (Routledge, 2007), and Southern Fujian: Production of Traditions in Post-Mao China (The Chinese University Press, 2006).

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Communalism and the Pursuit of Democracy

  • Book Subtitle: A Reflection on the Eradication of Racialism and Promoting Social Harmony

  • Authors: Chee-Beng Tan

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-36239-2

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham

  • eBook Packages: Social Sciences, Social Sciences (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-031-36238-5Published: 27 July 2023

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-031-36239-2Published: 26 July 2023

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XI, 87

  • Number of Illustrations: 3 illustrations in colour

  • Topics: Ethnicity, Class, Gender and Crime, Political Sociology, Biological Psychology

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