Impermanence, Identity, and Intersectionality

• In Event: Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism in Education SIG Paper Session

Abstract

In this paper, the author reflects on his experience attempting to incorporate impermanence into conversations about identity and intersectionality in a class he taught at an alternative adult education program in Myanmar. He argues that incorporating the concept of impermanence into these discussions can help undo harmful, ethno-nationalistic essentialism and assist students in connecting their ever-changing identities to the ever-changing social and political realities around them. The paper first discusses theoretical tensions within the discourse of intersectionality; then it demonstrates how the author began the course with texts from Taoism, Buddhism, and other philosophies, which explored impermanence. Finally, the paper describes how the author synthesized the philosophy of impermanence with texts on ethnicity in the Myanmar context.

Author

• Joseph Aaron Decker, University of Missouri