"Burma?s census disregards the complex ethnic identities of its people. Could this breathe new life into sectarian conflict? .... Next year, Burma will embark on its first census-taking process in more than three decades. It?s an opportunity, but it?s also a significant risk. One the one hand, the census could compel the state to finally recognize long-excluded people and foster a better collective understanding of the daily struggles that most Burmese face. But on the other, the census is set up to obscure Burma?s incredible diversity by requiring that Burmese people choose just one ethnic identity, even if they identify with many ethnicities. This comes at a dangerous point in Burma?s simmering ethnic conflict, especially since nationalists are now using conceptions of exclusive and timeless ethnicity to justify violence against populations suddenly deemed irrevocably "foreign."..."