Abstract Cultural Models of Democracy Among Burmese
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ABSTRACT CULTURAL MODELS OF DEMOCRACY AMONG BURMESE RESIDENTS IN CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, AND FORT WAYNE, INDIANA John Hillory Hood, M.A. Department of Anthropology Northern Illinois University, 2019 Giovanni Bennardo, Director This thesis examines implicit assumptions about democracy among Burmese residents in Chicago, Illinois and Fort Wayne, Indiana. A major focus of the research is the durability of foundational cultural models – basic, simple, widely-shared modes of thought – that may or may not change over time, measured in this study through length-of-residency. As such, I examined three distinct sample groups: temporary residents, immigrants, and adult offspring of immigrants. This research comprised methods of ethnography, semi-structured interviews, as well as a free- listing memory task. A key point of inquiry is intracultural variation occurring between sample groups. Particular attention was paid to heterogenous discourses from opinion communities, and the inner conflict that such discourses can generate within the mind. Key Words: Burma, Myanmar, Southeast Asia, democracy, cultural model, discourse analysis, cognitive anthropology, intracultural variation, cultural durability, cultural memory, refugee, migration, diaspora, authoritarianism NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY DEKALB, ILLINOIS MAY 2019 CULTURAL MODELS OF DEMOCRACY AMONG BURMESE RESIDENTS IN CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, AND FORT WAYNE, INDIANA BY JOHN HILLORY HOOD ©2019 John Hillory Hood A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE MASTER OF ARTS DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY Thesis Director: Giovanni Bennardo ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis would not have been possible without several people. I would like to acknowledge my thesis director, Giovanni Bennardo, from whom I learned so much about cognitive anthropology and who worked very closely with me even while on sabbatical. I would like to acknowledge Andrea Molnar for all she has taught me about cultural anthropology and Southeast Asia. I would like to thank committee member, Emily McKee, for her constant guidance and dedicated mentoring. I must thank Judy Ledgerwood for setting an example of what embodies a truly great academic, and for all her instruction from anthropological theory to Southeast Asian studies. I would like to thank Stephen Buttes at Purdue University for helping connect me to other faculty and members of the Burmese community in Fort Wayne. I would like to acknowledge Caitlin Bemis for her support as both a peer-reviewer and a dear friend. I would like to thank Tevita Manu’atu for his help with analysis software and his support as a friend and toko for life. None of my success at NIU would be possible without April Law; I cannot express the immense importance of her role in our department. Likewise, the success of every graduate student in our department is thanks to Ruthann Yeaton, an adept problem-solver, a good-listener, and an all-around great person. Lastly, I would like to thank all of my Burmese friends for their crucial and instrumental help with translation. DEDICATION I dedicate this thesis to my mother, Hope Hood, who taught me the importance of education from an early age, and who has devoted her life to educating children. I also dedicate this thesis to my grandmother, Jean McClintock, who taught me to persevere against all odds and never to give up in the face of adversity. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................ vii LIST OF FIGURES .............................................................................................................. viii Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 1 2. BAMAR RESIDENTS IN THE UNITED STATES ................................................ 9 The Nation of Burma/Myanmar .................................................................... 9 Conflicts Prompting Migration Waves ......................................................... 12 Cultural and Analytical Concepts from Ethnographic Literature ................. 15 Cosmological Conceptions of Political Legitimacy ......................... 16 Social Organization ........................................................................... 22 Diaspora Studies ............................................................................... 26 Conclusion .................................................................................................... 31 3. ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORKS ............................................................................ 32 Cultural Model Theory in Cognitive Anthropology ..................................... 32 The Internalization Process ........................................................................... 38 Durability of Cultural Models ....................................................................... 40 Conventional Discourse and Heterogenous Speech ..................................... 46 vi Chapter Page Conclusion .................................................................................................... 47 4. METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................... 48 Sampling ....................................................................................................... 48 Data Collection ............................................................................................. 51 Collecting Ethnographic Data ........................................................... 51 Collecting and Analyzing Linguistic Data ........................................ 51 Collecting Cognitive Data ................................................................. 55 Conclusion .................................................................................................... 57 5. BURMESE CULTURAL MODELS ........................................................................ 58 Foundational Cultural Models ...................................................................... 59 Burmese Cultural Models of Democracy ..................................................... 64 Elite Youth Cultural Model: Opening the Floodgates ...................... 64 Migrant Cultural Model: Subordinating the Military ....................... 76 Second-Generation Cultural Model: Individualization ..................... 84 Conclusion .................................................................................................... 91 6. DISCUSSION ........................................................................................................... 94 7. CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................... 101 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................... 106 LIST OF TABLES Table Page Table 4.1 Participant Demographics ..................................................................................... 50 Table 4.2 Keyword Examples ............................................................................................... 54 Table 5.1 Cultural Models Comparison ................................................................................. 59 Table 5.2 Freelisting Terms Comparison .............................................................................. 61 LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page Figure 1: Example of the core and peripheral nodes of a mental model .............................. 34 Figure 2: Document portrait from MAXQDA of an Elite Youth participant ....................... 55 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION This study examines implicit assumptions about ‘democracy’ among Burmese participants residing in the greater Chicago, Illinois metropolitan area and Fort Wayne, Indiana. I collected data between March and July of 2018. I developed the following research questions: What are the implicit assumptions about ‘democracy’ among Burmese residents in the United States? • Are there commonly shared implicit assumptions about democracy? Is there variation among these implicit assumptions? If so, what are the variations and why do they exist? • Does an indigenous Burmese worldview influence implicit assumptions? Does this foundational worldview change over the migration experience? If so, to what degree and in what form? I generated three hypotheses to test aspects of these research questions. First, I hypothesized that a foundational worldview exists among the Bamar1 is sociocentric in nature. This sociocentric aspect refers to the general predisposition for a person within a community to 1 Bamar refers specifically to the ethnic group sometimes referred to as Burmans in older literature. 2 focus on others before oneself.2 This predisposition thereby generates certain types of behavior in which consideration of other-than-ego is privileged over ego (Miller 1984, 961-978; Triandis et al. 1988, 323-338; Triandis 1989, 269-289; 1995, 19-20, 26-28, 43-80, 170-187; 2001, 907- 924; Markus and Kitayama 1991, 224-253; Neher 1994, 949-961; Kusserow 1999; Strauss 2000, 85-114; Weisner 2001; Nisbett 2003, 47-77; Shimizu 2011, 431; Bennardo 2009, 173-178, 202, 299, 336-339; Smith 2012; Bennardo and De Munck 2014, 121-124; Marecek and Christopher 2018). This sociocentric foundational worldview should influence implicit assumptions about ‘democracy.’ Second, I hypothesized that due to this sociocentric disposition, ‘individual rights’ would be