1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910962696003321

Autore

Connors Michael Kelly

Titolo

Democracy and national identity in Thailand / / Michael Kelly Connors

Pubbl/distr/stampa

New York ; London, : RoutledgeCurzon, c2003

ISBN

1-134-48436-4

1-280-07333-0

1-134-48437-2

0-203-36163-6

Descrizione fisica

viii, 275 p

Collana

RoutledgeCurzon research on Southeast Asia ; ; 2

Disciplina

320.9593

Soggetti

Nationalism - Thailand

Democracy - Thailand

Thailand Politics and government 20th century

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. [254]-261) and index.

Nota di contenuto

1. Introduction : talking democracy -- 2. Making democracy mean something -- 3. Before the doctrine : from constitutional democracy to Thai-style democracy -- 4. Developmental democracy : villages, insurgency and security -- 5. Delayed liberalism, the general will : the doctrine entrenched -- 6. Citizen King : embodying Thainess -- 7. New times, new constitution -- 8. Liberalism, civil society and new projects of subjection -- 9. Rethinking the nation in times of crisis : democracy, civic engagement and community -- 10. Final comments.

Sommario/riassunto

This book seeks to illuminate how Thai elites have used democracy as an instrument for order and discipline. Drawing on interviews, numerous Thai language sources, and critical theory, the author reveals a remarkable adaptation of the idea of democracy in the Thai context. Connors shows how elites have drawn on Western political theory to design projects to create modern citizens. He argues that it is possible to see the idea and practice of elite liberal democracy in Thailand, and elsewhere, as a key ideological resource in the project of securing hegemony over undisciplined populations. In this perspective the ideas of civil society, civic virtue, social capital and democracy itself are all part of the weaponry deployed in an effort to create 'good citizens',



who act as guardians of the elite defined common good.