Suchergebnisse

When the Burmese military junta implemented a repressive economy that nationalised trade and industry during the socialist period (1962–88), a black market economy sprang up and predominated. Despite regime change in 1988 and the subsequent adoption of a market-oriented economy, the underground trade has nevertheless continued and thrived. The Yunnanese Chinese merchants of Burma have played a significant role in the contraband economy over the span of regimes. Based on a non-state-centred perspective, this paper aims to look into the everyday politics of the underground trade conducted by the Yunnanese Chinese moving between Burma, Thailand and Yunnan and analyses the country's politico-economic landscape since 1962.

When the Burmese military junta implemented a repressive economy that nationalised trade and industry during the socialist period (1962-88), a black market economy sprang up and predominated. Despite regime change in 1988 and the subsequent adoption of a market-oriented economy, the underground trade has nevertheless continued and thrived. The Yunnanese Chinese merchants of Burma have played a significant role in the contraband economy over the span of regimes. Based on a non-state-centred perspective, this paper aims to look into the everyday politics of the underground trade conducted by the Yunnanese Chinese moving between Burma, Thailand and Yunnan and analyses the country's politico-economic landscape since 1962. (J Southeast Asian Stud/GIGA)

In the face of a complex external situation, the migrant Yunnanese in northern Thailand have undergone repeated moves since the 1950s, and the narratives of their lived experiences disclose an ongoing negotiation of their inner self with the external social world across time and space. The feeling of "dwelling in displacement" is the fundamental basis of their narrated stories and this constructs particular discourses on "home away from home". The primary aim of this paper is to analyze their conceptualizations of home and the intertwining of their various migration patterns. It seeks to see how they are shaped by external structural forces on the one hand, and their reaction to them with their interstitial agency on the other. Moreover, by probing their diasporic consciousness linked to the longue durée of Yunnanese mobility, the paper attempts to accentuate the different layers of their perceptions of time and place, and to illuminate their interplay.

AbstractThis article aims to illustrate the trading culture of jade stones by examining the social life of the traded stones in their transnational movement from Burma to Thailand during the period of the Burmese socialist regime. Drawing on the work of the well-known anthropologist, Appadurai, I adopt a perspective emphasizing processes to look into the complex intersection of economic, political, and cultural factors relating to repeated transactions. These factors include the politics of organization, the politics of knowledge, personal guts, and the uncontrollable factor of luck. The research shows that market laws entwined with intricate socio-political forces of the region were the driving force in the exercise of the trade beyond national boundaries.

The article investigates the operation of the jade trading networks from Burma to Thailand during the period of the Burmese socialist regime. The trade, a significant ethnic enterprise undertaken by Yunnanese migrants, has relied on transnational networks that deal with different political and economic systems beyond the jurisdiction of the state. The network approach is used to analyse the intertwining of guanxi formation and regulatory observance.

The leader-follower relationship among the KMT Yunnanese Chinese in northern Thailand is analyzed through the application of patron-client theories. It is argued that the relationship has been embedded in a particular socio-cultural context, which incorporates both Han Chinese culture and the native ethos of long-distance caravan trade, and that it is characterised by both instrumental and emotional forms.

The KMT (Kuomintang) Yunnanese Chinese in Northern Thailand have a complex migration history spread over different generations and places. It not only reflects political entanglements involving different power entities, but also illustrates the dynamic reaction of the people to the complications. The article focuses on the interactions between the political powers and the people. The process highlights that the Yunnanese are not mere objects controlled by external policies or conditions. After a few decades of hard life, they have been transforming themselves from refugee warriors to immigrants.