April Updates: Peers Myanmar
peersmyanmar
Dear friends,
We have updated Peers Myanmar Website with
- Mutations in Citizenship, Graduated Sovereignty and Flexible Citizenship (journal article quotes, journal article, book review)
- Watched Subjects Who Fail to Watch (a entertainment critique in Burmese)
- History and Lost Territories (quote, book)
- Russell Peters' Multicultural Comedy Show (video)
- Three videos/clips (Mihael Moore's Farehiet 9/11, US's War Crimes during the second WW, and the Lie)
- There are some Music Vidoes updated. (visit Justice songs sections)
More information, please visit Peers Myanmar Web blog at http://peersmyanmar.wordpress.com
Mutations in Citizenship, Graduated Sovereignty and Flexible Citizenship
April 25th, 2007 — peersmyanmarThis is a good one, a new idea on citizenships reflecting the globalizing world in which people, things and cultures are more mobile. It looks at how belonging to a country has been influenced by economic calculation, rather than traditional national citizenship. This article have been referenced by many. comment by Sai Lian
"Meanwhile, strict discriminations between citizens and foreigners are dropped in favor of the pursuit of human capital." (On page 409). Also she has two other concepts written along the same line, called Graduated Sovereignty (see journal article here)" (2000) and Flexible Citizenship (see book review here) (1999) , comment by Myo)
Contact Peer Myanmar if you need more information.
"Abstract: Mutations in citizenship are crystallized in an ever-shifting landscape shaped by the flows of markets, technologies, and populations. We are moving beyond the citizenship-versus-statelessness model. First, the elements of citizenship (rights, entitlements, etc.) are becoming disarticulated from each other, and becoming re-articulated with universalizing criteria of neoliberalism and human rights. Such 'global assemblages' define zones of political entitlements and claims. Second, the space of the 'assemblage', rather than the national terrain, becomes the site for political mobilizations by diverse groups in motion. Read the rest of this entry »
Watched Subjects Who Fail to Watch
April 8th, 2007 — peersmyanmarHistory and Lost Territories
April 8th, 2007 — peersmyanmar
The following is a paragraphy from Thongchai Winichakul's pathbreaking book "Siam Mapped: A History of the Geo-body of a Nation". This is in the context of Thai elites who tend to claim some parts of today's Myanmar/Burma, Laos and Cambodia as their 'lost territories' by looking at certain historical time "only" when the so-called 'lost territories' were under Siam (Thailand). Winichakul questions what if one looks at other historical times in which some parts of today's Thailand such as Ayudhya were under Burma.
"The maps are not for a study of historical geography, but for historical consciousness about the life of a nation. … What is the value of producing a map of, say, 1569-1584 when Ayudhya was defeated and Siam was said to have lost its independence? If such a period were visualized in the same fashion as this atlas [today's atlas in which Thai elites claim 'lost territories'], Siam would appear in the same color as Burma on the same map, with Ayudhya integrated into the Burmese kingdom. What is the value of publishing a map of, say, the fifteenth century when Lanna [Chiang Mai] was independent and fought against Ayudhya to control Sukhothai? These two "if" maps would confuse or destroy the ideology of which the whole set [territorial politics] is designed" (Thongchai Winichakul, Siam Mapped: A History of the Geo-body of a Nation, 1994, p.156).
Note: Thongchai Winichakul is a Thai historian at the University of Winsconson-Madison. His book has a significant impact on the thinking of history and geography, and it has been used in many Universities. It is online avaliable at http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=43093152
[video] Russell Peters' Multicultural Comedy Show
April 6th, 2007 — peersmyanmarWe post this comedian show by a Canadian comdian, Russell Peters, as he picks up on some multicultural matters. This show contains coarse languages. Viewer discertion is advised.