Navigating Factionalism and Minimalism within the Karen Identity
Eh Nay Thaw, from the Karen hill tribe in Eastern Burma, presents a narrative that blends the struggles of his people with a call for acknowledgment and advocacy during his podcast interview. His life’s journey, starting in a village on the mountainside and traversing through refugee camps to resettlement in the United States, is deeply interwoven with the Karen identity—a minority group facing long-standing persecution by the Burmese military. Eh Nay Thaw’s activism is not just about resistance but is deeply rooted in an intrinsic hope for healing and justice, underpinned by his work in refugee resettlement and community advocacy. This advocacy is aimed at raising awareness of the plight of Karen and other ethnic minorities in Burma, challenging the ongoing injustices they face, and striving towards a peaceful, equitable future. His story is a testament to the resilience of the Karen people and their ongoing struggle for recognition and rights within Myanmar.
“There is the chronic ongoing issue of division within the Karen communities, even since before the British colonization of Burma.”
There is the chronic ongoing issue of division within the Karen communities, even since before the British colonization of Burma. As an avid observer of divisions between the Karen people, I noticed a few factors.
First, Karen people look up to those with high values and strong principles to be chosen as leaders for their communities. The whole group put high unquestioned trust on their leaders. This can be explained by the theory of identity politics where there is a tendency for people of a particular religion, ethnic group, social background or other commonalities to form exclusive alliances, moving away from other groups of people.
Secondly, Karen people dislike confronting differences which is why we are susceptible to factions. Disagreeing is often masked with sugarcoating or simply avoiding conversations around the visible differences between people.
Thirdly, extreme cohesiveness among community groups with large number of people mean very little space for diversity and more vulnerability to factions. Traditionally, people are categorized rigidly based on their religion, language and the location of the institutions they belong to. Through belonging to different groups under different names, people become more further away from connecting with other groups.
In addition, Karen people, especially elderlies, value and practice a minimalistic way of life. We call ourselves ‘Knyaw Po,’ meaning ‘children of simplicity.’ To me, this is the identity I hold dear and true to myself. Admittedly, this name can be confusing when the same name is used to describe our people, human race and also simple person. In my opinion, the word ‘Karen’ can also be misleading because it does not imply the meaning of simplicity. Historically, Karen ancestors tend to live far away from modern areas and prefer to live rurally in the jungles and the hills. This is why we are known as a hill tribe in Thailand, or hill people in eastern Karen state of Burma. Even now, many folks living in the United States wish to return back to Karen land in order to live a simple life as hunter gatherers, villagers and rice farmers. You can recognize the principles of minimalism in our Karen cultural items like handwoven bags.
Adding to the cohesive trait of people within different Karen groups, Karen culture and identity are based on a strong sense of collectivism with barely existing individualistic views. Because of this, it can be problematic if the leader of a certain Karen community is an extremist in any way – nationalism, religion, language, etc. For instance, the leader does not like a certain group of people based off differences in race, religion, and language. The rest of the group members will not associate with anyone identified as that other group, on the grounds of maintaining in-group cohesiveness and group identity. Karen people only like to associate with ourselves, of whom we identify with based on religion, faith and language. Thus, we are easily susceptible to division within our own ethnicity.