Revolution as Development: The Karen Self-Determination Struggle Against Ethnocracy (1949 - 2004) by Jack Fong

Author:Jack Fong [Fong, Jack]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Universal-Publishers, Inc.
Published: 2011-07-12T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter VI

Liberation Ethnodevelopment and Key KNU Institutions

In this chapter, I continue my task of equating the Karen self-determination struggle with liberation ethnodevelopment. Liberation ethnodevelopment functions as a sociopolitical and sociocultural system to sustain the survival of the Karen by inculcating and reproducing Karen agency nationalism. The institutions, infrastructure, political economy, and material culture will now be observed as it empowers the remaining Karen to continue their fight for freedom. The link between ethnicity, development, and freedom is poignantly addressed throughout the Preamble of the 2003 Proposed Draft of the Constitution of Kawthoolei:

We the Karen people, in the spirit of fraternity, unity and liberty and for the sake of peace, stability, security and social progress, join together with the other nationalities of the land to be part of the Federal Union of _______. We will always remember how relentlessly we had to struggle, for our freedom, equality and self-determination, and be ready to defend our basic human rights to freely develop ourselves socially, culturally and economically within the framework of the Federation.

During the days of feudalism, we, the Karen people had been systematically and severely oppressed, exploited and prevented from advancement in all the fields of human activities. When the system of oppression and subjection was removed, we made rapid advances through industriousness and self-reliance, in a matter of 60 years, to become a civilized community, capable for sustainable development.

However, after independence from the British, the political immaturity, intolerance and above all ultra-nationalism of those in power had led the country to civil war and the Dark Age of oppression, subjugation and exploitation, for more than half a century. In this Dark Age, all suffered immeasurably and the country suffered a disastrous setback.

Accordingly, we, the Karen people in the State of Kawthoolei as well as in other States will join together with all peace-loving nationalities to prevent the return of the Dark Age and always work for harmony, stability and prosperity of the Federation.

In the above four paragraphs, the ideals and hopes of Childs, Sen and Stavenhagen become inextricably fused, albeit situated within a protracted and bloody conflict. The dystopian context of the Karen human condition thus behooves us to further understand the potential of liberation ethnodevelopment as underpinned by key KNU institutions. In this section, I discuss the institutions that have been pivotal to the Karen struggle: the (1) Karen National Union that governs the State of Kawthoolei, the (2) Karen National Liberation Army, along with the KNU’s, (3) Forestry Department, (4) Health and Welfare Department, and (5) Education Department.

The Karen National Union

The KNU is the political organization that aims to serve the aspirations of the Karen people engaged in their fight for freedom. The KNU was in many ways similar to its predecessor, the Karen National Association of 1881 (KNA). The KNU and KNA were both created and initially led by Christian Karen but remained open to all Karen, regardless of their faith (Lintner 1994, 27). Indeed, freedom of religion is an important aspect of the Karen identity as constructed by the KNU but also at the level of experiences.

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