Myanmar’s Top-Down Transition: Challenges for Civil Society

Abstract

This article historicises the nature of political transition in Myanmar to better appreciate the challenges faced by civil society. After Myanmar's political reforms in 2011, Western donors rushed into the country in support of what they misunderstood as a remarkable instance of democratisation. In 2019, escalating civil war, ethnic cleansing, and contracting civil liberties urge a rethink. This article argues that viewing transition in Myanmar through the lens of democratisation has always been misleading and problematic. Partial liberalisation was orchestrated by the military to safeguard its own power. Reforms have not only benefited civil society but also enabled the growth of uncivil society, fuelling sectarian violence and bolstering military rule. Operating on the assumption of democratisation, Western donors shifted funds from grassroots networks to militarised state bureaucracies that seek to co-opt peace-building and development projects for the purposes of ethnocratic state-building and counterinsurgency. Rethinking the nature of transition is pivotal for preventing inadvertently aiding authoritarianism and conflict.

What makes “difficult” settings difficult? Contextual challenges for accountability

“…All four countries were at some point colonies of Western powers that ruled the territories in ways aimed at strengthening their own power. In South Asia, the British had an explicit approach of “divide and rule.” In Myanmar, this involved preferential enlisting of ethnic minorities into the military, giving them power, which some scholars argue is the root of the social cleavages that are at the heart of the current sense of grievance and conflict (Brenner & Schulman, 2019). Chaimite et al (2021) point out that Mozambique is experiencing a crisis in authority, which “is a product of the post‐independence state's failure fully to transform Portuguese notions of authority, its coerciveness and militarization, its blurring of distinctions between state and party, attacks on spiritual authority, and inability to deliver or protect economic progress” (Alexander, 1997, as cited in Chaimite et al, 2021, p. 27).…”

Researching governance in difficult times and places: Reflections from Mozambique, Myanmar, Nigeria, and Pakistan

“…During the research we discuss here, political sensitivities increased and civic space contracted further in all four countries. In Myanmar, the optimistic outlook associated with the first democratically elected government taking power in 2016 was short‐lived, with the new government continuing patterns of suppressing dissent and limiting civic freedoms (Brenner & Schulman, 2019), and ultimately a return to military rule in 2021. In Pakistan, a clampdown on rights‐based and politically oriented CSOs aligned with attacks on freedom of expression from an emboldened religious right (Khan, 2020; Mohmand, 2019).…”

The (In)Ability of a Multi-Stakeholder Platform to Address Land Conflicts—Lessons Learnt from an Oil Palm Landscape in Myanmar

“…Myanmar has experienced one of the world's longest running civil wars, starting shortly after its independence from the British Empire in 1948, and continuing through periods of military dictatorship from 1962 until the 2010s. The fighting was mainly concentrated in the ethnically diverse borderlands [28]. Especially in these borderlands, armed conflicts have resulted in continued humanitarian crises and countless internally displaced people and refugees in the neighbouring countries [7,28].…”

“…The fighting was mainly concentrated in the ethnically diverse borderlands [28]. Especially in these borderlands, armed conflicts have resulted in continued humanitarian crises and countless internally displaced people and refugees in the neighbouring countries [7,28]. During this era, land governance was determined by formal and informal institutions favouring the well-connected and rich domestic elite, including the military high-ranking officials [12,13,29,30].…”

“…Myanmar's mountainous and resource-rich borderlands, usually home to ethnic minorities, were severely affected by the civil war [28,[36][37][38]. Tanintharyi Region is situated in the south of Myanmar and is one of these borderlands.…”