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Paper short abstract

This study explores how “border dignity” is constructed through faith-based subjectification practices in Mae Sot ,and examines how it intertwines with processes of identity reformation and othering, shaping moral governance and power relations in the borderland.

Paper long abstract

This study examines how the concept of “border dignity” is constructed, negotiated, and reproduced through faith-based subjectification practices in Mae Sot, a town along the Thai–Myanmar border. Focusing on the Teochew Chinese community, it argues that border dignity is not an inherent moral attribute, but a product of relational power dynamics and subject-making processes embedded within broader structures of exclusion, recognition, and governance.

Mae Sot is conceptualized as a complex and porous mosaic space, where diverse actors negotiate belonging and legitimacy. Recent geopolitical discourses, particularly those surrounding the idea of “Dark Zomia” (Pinkaew, 2024), have drawn renewed scholarly attention to the layered moral and political terrain of the Thai–Myanmar border. Building on the theoretical frameworks of Foucault and Butler, this study conceptualizes dignity as a socially constructed position shaped by discursive power and embedded within institutional, economic, and cultural structures.

Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork conducted from 2022 to 2024, the study explores how Teochew merchants mobilize reverence for Song Dafeng and engage in shantang (charitable hall) practices to produce religiously informed forms of care and welfare. These practices enhance community cohesion, moral legitimacy, and ties with local authorities, forming a multi-dimensional network that functions as a form of social capital.

However, these same practices also reinforce asymmetries. In interactions with marginalized Myanmar migrants, dignity becomes a mechanism of differentiation, determining who is recognized and cared for. The study concludes that while faith-based actors engage in symbolic governance, they may simultaneously reproduce the exclusionary logics of state systems.