Communalism and the Pursuit of Democracy: A Reflection on the Eradication of Racialism and Promoting Social Harmony

Chee-Beng Tan

jul 2023 · Springer Nature

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This Palgrave Pivot examines why racialism is so persistent and the challenges it poses to the functioning of democracy and the attainment of national integration. It introduces an evolutionary psychology framework, which explains human innate potential to identify with and defend one’s group, but argues that racial dislike and conflicts are provoked by racial ideologies and the politics of ethnicity. By comparing the politics of race in a number of countries, including Malaysia and the United States, this book argues that attachment to one’s ethnic and religious identities does not hinder ethnic harmony. It is necessary to manage the issues of race and religion as well as promoting conviviality and cosmopolitanism for pursuing the ideal of common humanity and for maintaining a stable and meaningful democracy. This book concludes that democracy, as practiced, has some major weaknesses; as an ideal, it is still the best form of government to pursue.

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Chee-Beng Tan has taught at the University of Singapore, University of Malaya, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou. He is currently Adjunct Professor, CUHK, and Adjunct Professor, Tunku Abdul Rahman University. A cultural anthropologist, he has done research in Malaysia and China. His major publications include, as author, The Baba of Melaka (2021, new edition by SIRD), Chinese Religion in Malaysia (Brill, 2018), Chinese Overseas: Comparative Cultural Issues (Hong Kong University Press, 2004), The Development and Distribution of Dejiao Associations in Malaysia and Singapore (ISEAS, 1985), and as editor, After Migration and Religious Affiliation (World Scientific, 2015), Routledge Handbook of the Chinese Overseas (Routledge, 2013), Chinese Food and Foodways in Southeast Asia and Beyond (NUS Press, 2011), Chinese Transnational Networks (Routledge, 2007), and Southern Fujian: Production of Traditions in Post-Mao China (The Chinese University Press, 2006).