Intimacy, Loyalty and State Formation: The Spectre of the "Anti-National"

Whitecross, Richard

Abstract

On 19 April 1998, the Tiger’s Nest temple, in Taktshang, near Paro in western Bhutan, caught fire and was substantially destroyed. The destruction of this major Buddhist pilgrimage site was attributed, though never publicly established, to be the work of “anti-nationals” or “traitors.” Commencing fieldwork the following summer, I found the so-called anti-national was an ever-present entity. Each evening, I would watch as Senge made offerings to placate those spirits that cause illness, and for a long time, the anti-national felt equally intangible. Conversations would touch on their presence in the community, and I was advised on several occasions about...

• Acceptance Date: Apr 7, 2008
• Publication Date: May 7, 2010
• Deposit Date: May 12, 2017
• Publisher: Penn State University Press
• Pages: 68-88
• Book Title: Traitors: Suspicion, Intimacy, and the Ethics of State Building
• Chapter Number: 3
• ISBN: 978-0-8122-4213-3
• Keywords: Anti-nationalism, democracy, traitors,
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/Output/836761