緬甸的國家認同

Issues of National Identity in Burma

緬甸被英國《經濟學人雜誌》稱爲是亞洲下一個崩壞的國家。另一方面，緬甸也被稱爲「光與花瓣的國度」，是一個安全輕鬆友善的多元文化社會。本文重點在檢視緬甸的國家認同議題，以血緣、民族、語言、宗教等原生條件，以及歷史、制度、社會結構等建構要素探討緬甸的國家認同議題。從英國殖民時期到獨立後，緬甸人的族群和身分認同一直都是政治發展的核心議題。執政者都嘗試對緬甸的人民進行分類，這些分類對公民身份、基本權利、政治和武裝衝突都有相當影響。由分類和後續治理而來的衝突導致族群間衝突不斷，最後因爲族群的武裝化讓整體認同的建構困難重重。獨立後長期執政的軍政府以大緬族主義，將原生論中的族群和宗教立爲單一認同的標準。大緬族主義加上佛教民族主義就讓佛教成爲緬甸文化與群體認同的同義詞，即使在2010年代民主改革之後，表面上緬甸將煥然一新，國際上也對新的緬甸發展寄予厚望，但是軍政府和佛教民族主義仍然對緬甸發展具有決定性的影響力。另外羅興亞人大量流亡的報導傳遍全世界時，來自國際的批評和壓力就讓想重新走向世界的緬甸政府無法再輕忽漠視。只要羅興亞人事實存在於緬甸，緬甸政府就必須面對他們的身分認同問題。

Burma received varied recognitions from different viewers, such as the Economist called it ''failed state while travelers applauded the multicultural beauty and friendly people as a tourist paradise. This article is aimed to explore the national identity issues of Burma through primordialism and constructionism to see what the major driving forces are involved. We found that from the very first of British colonial time identities were the most significant conflict among various ethnic groups in Burma. And the militarization of ethnic conflicts has made identity conciliation very difficult. After independence, the long term ruling military regimes tried to build Burma as a single nation, single religion state, in which Barma is the only legitimate people and Buddhism is the only belief system. Moreover, the oppression on Rohingya was built as the very striking image of Burma around the world, which invited a numerous of blames and attacks from states and international institutes. That certainly not only make identity issues more complicated but also will impede Burma's plan to integrate with globalization and foster further economic development.