Södra Thailand
Civila samhället - roten till våldet?
VarshneySouthern ThailandCivil societyEthnic violenceMuslim uprisingPolitical and administrative sciencesStatsvetenskapFörvaltningskunskapLaw and Political Science
Using Varshney's theory about intra- and interethnic networks, this thesis examines how civil society in southern Thailand is built up.During 2004 the violence between Muslims and Buddhists rose in southern Thailand. The government tried to fight the insurgency using violent police and military forces, resulting in hundreds of deaths and part of reason why Thailand is loosing rank in Freedom House's democracy index. Varshney means that a civil society built up on intraethnic networks works favourable to violence between different ethnic groups. Sorting out and defining what is meant by ?ethnic? and ?civil society?, this thesis shows why to look at the insurgency in southern Thailand as an ethnic conflict surviving partly because of an intraethnic civil society. Also, the thesis shows how this is not the original reason of the violence, but that it is part of the reason to why the violence can rise again and has survived during decades.