posted on 2011-02-25, 15:19authored byFausto Barlocco
Abstract This thesis investigates the effects of the nation-building agenda carried out by the Malaysian state on the sense of collective belonging of the Kadazan people of the
Bornean State of Sabah. The thesis includes a reconstruction of the formation of the two most
important forms of collective identification, the nation and the ethnic group, and the analysis
of the way in which Kadazan villagers identify themselves in relation to discourses
circulating in various media and the practices in which they get involved in their everyday
life. Kadazan villagers consistently show a rejection of the state propaganda and a general
unwillingness to identify themselves as members of the Malaysian nation, which I attribute to
their marginal position within the Malaysian state. They more often identify themselves as
members of their ethnic group or village, collective forms of identification that seem to allow
for a higher degree of participation in their definition than the national one.
The empirical analysis of the everyday self-identification in relation to practices and
discourses shows a complex picture, as Kadazan villagers differently situate themselves as
Malaysian, Kadazan, Sabahan and members of their village in different occasions and
contexts. One of the explanations of this fact lies in the ambiguous character of Malaysian
nation-building, promoting unity while at the same time treating citizens differently
depending on their ethnic and religious background. The official discourse and practice of
ethnic and religious differentiation has been deeply internalised by the Kadazan and has
become a primary reason for their opposition to the state, as they feel treated as second-class
citizens. Another explanation for the development of a sense of belonging to various
collective forms of identification among the Kadazan rests in the fact that their recent history
has made these significant as expression of different sets of shared lived experiences,
providing the basis for the development of senses of commonality with members of the
national, sub-national, ethnic and village communities at the same time.
A Doctoral Thesis. Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of Doctor of Philosophy of Loughborough University. If you are the author of this thesis and would like to make it openly available in the Institutional Repository please contact: repository@lboro.ac.uk