Contested Civil Society in Myanmar: Local Change and Global Recognition

✍ Scribed by Maaike Matelski

• Publisher: Bristol University Press
• Year: 2023
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 213
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

This book centres on various contestations in Myanmar society and illustrates the ways in which these are reflected in civil society. The book offers a concise overview of recent political developments in the country, from the short-lived attempts at democratisation to the 2021 military coup, and analyses the involvement of various civil society actors, as well as their international supporters. It incorporates multiple identities and fault lines in Myanmar society and explains how these influence diverse perceptions, framing and agenda setting as political developments unfold. The book provides an up-to-date overview of the main identities and contestations within Myanmar’s civil society and, by extension, within Myanmar society as a whole.

✦ Table of Contents

Front Cover
Contested Civil Society in Myanmar: Local Change and Global Recognition
Copyright information
Table of Contents
List of Abbreviations and Acronyms
Acknowledgements
Introduction: Contested Representation in Burma/Myanmar
Researcher positionality
Introducing the lens of civil society
Respondents and methodology
Local and global perceptions on social and political change
Burma or Myanmar?
States, regions and ethnicities in Myanmar
1 Conflict, Repression and Resistance from Colonialism to Military Rule
British colonialism and nationalist resistance
Post-independence politics and the start of military rule
The ‘four eights’ uprising and continued military rule
The 2007 ‘Saffron Revolution’
A cyclone, a constitutional referendum and an election
The quasi-civilian USDP government
Conflict and peace talks in the ethnic states
2 Constructing Civil Society in Myanmar
Tracing the ‘civil’ in civil society
Civil society in the context of Myanmar
Associational life in (post-)colonial Burma
Post-independence resistance movements
The rise of the (pro-)democracy movement in the 1990s
Civil society during the early stages of political transition
The rise of Buddhist nationalism, hate speech and violence against Muslims
The NLD’s electoral victory in 2015
Escalating military violence against the Rohingya
3 Diversity and Fault Lines in Burmese Civil Society
Fault line 1: ethnicity and religion
The role of Buddhist monks
Minority religious and ethnic organizations
Inter-ethnic relations and intra-ethnic diversity
Fault line 2: generation and gender
Generations of student activists
The post-Nargis generation
The role of women
Fault line 3: government-organized and independent NGOs
Fault line 4: ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ Myanmar
Transnational aspects of the Burmese democracy movement
Fault line 5: class, elites and grassroots
The professionalization of civil society
The rise of the ‘Third Force’
4 Room to Manoeuvre under Authoritarian Rule
Civil society under authoritarian rule
Restrictions on public speech
Dealing with surveillance
‘Contingent symbiosis’ between state and civil society
The contested notion of ‘space’ for civil society in the run-up to the 2010 elections
Civil society beyond the overtly political
Testing the waters during the transition
5 Transnational Advocacy Strategies and Pathways to Change
Framing and marketing in transnational advocacy campaigns
Strategic framing efforts
Encounters between civil society from exile and from inside the country
Post- Nargis counter- voices to the democracy movement
6 Competing Frames around the 2010 Elections
The elections-as-opportunity counterframe
Lobbying abroad for the election boycott campaign
Adversarial framing
Evaluating campaign success
A strategic shift to international justice campaigns
7 Foreign Aid and the (De)politicization of Civil Society Assistance
Expansion and contraction of foreign aid duringmilitary rule
Politicization of the aid debate
Western democracy promotion
Changing donor priorities during the political transition
Foreign aid reinforcing societal divisions
International justice initiatives
Inequalities in donor relationships
8 Interrupted Transition and Post-coup Resistance
Popular resistance and military repression since the 2021 coup
Escalation of armed conflict and resistance
New forms of protest and solidarity
Political opposition to military rule
Armed opposition after the 2021 coup
Contested representation within the opposition
Contested international legitimacy
International responses and the search for global recognition
Avoiding the blame game?
Debating ways forward and the role of international observers
Conclusion
Identifying civil society in repressive environments
Policy recommendations for donors
The future of civil society in Myanmar
Notes
Introduction
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
References
Index