RACIAL DIFFERENTIATION AND SOLUTION OF ETHNIC CONFLICTS IN MALAYSIA

• Authors: Jelonek A. W.
• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

The inhabitants of present day Malaysia form a deeply divided community, with respect to social status and socio-economic position. The factors, which lead to the strongest divisions, are of ethnic and racial nature. Malaysia is a country, which is inhabited by at least three separate communities – Malayan, Chinese and Indian. Ethnicity, as is shown by Zakaria Haji Ahmad, a Malayan sociologist, is the 'foundation of economic, cultural, religious and political life of Malaysia'. For this reason the system of political representation in Malaysia always reflects ethnic divisions and conflicts in this country. For all the communities, loyalty to one's own ethnic group has always meant lack of confidence and trust in the government and avoidance of individual or collective responsibility for a broader public interest (in the understanding of the state interest). The relative stability of the political system of Malaysia is connected with the unique 'elite accommodation system' or 'consocional democracy'. Most political decisions were supposed to be made following agreements between the elites of the ethnic communities. This meant that the weakened position of the parliament and other elected institutions were approved by all and that the ratification of the earlier agreements was entrusted to the parliament and the elected institutions. The system guaranteed that the natural leaders of the ethnic communities would enforce the final agreement, through their influence and authority, and would prevent opposition to them by individual communities. In the article the author tries to characterize the historical background of the divisions in the state and show attempts at a 'systemic' solution of the ethnic conflicts.

Keywords

EN

MALAYSIA -ETHNIC CONFLICTS

Discipline

• ETHNOLOGY: ETHNOLOGY

• Publisher: Polskie Towarzystwo Ludoznawcze
• Journal: Lud
• Year: 2005
• Volume: 89
• Pages: 121-140
• Document type: ARTICLE

Contributors

author

Jelonek A. W.

• A. W. Jelonek, Uniwersytet Warszawski, Instytu Socjologii, ul. Karowa 18, 00-324 Warszawa, Poland

Identifiers

CEJSH db identifier

07PLAAAA03036211