Asian Studies Centre

Roundtable Discussion on the future of Burma Burma is at a very sensitive moment in its transition. The peace process with ethnic armed groups is in a delicate phase, the divisive constitution is being debated in parliament, Buddhist nationalism pervades sectors of society, and elections in late 2015 could be the first relatively free polls in a generation. As Burma and its captive audience look to the future, this roundtable addresses the question of what lies in store. Drawing on different areas of expertise, participants will discuss: To what extent is 2015 likely to live up to expectations as a turning point in Burmese history? How will elite-level politics be affected by issues from below? And just how radically will the political landscape be transformed afterwards? Discussions will be informal and opened to the floor.

An Informal Rountable Discussion on Burma Matthew Walton will discuss ethnicity and differential experiences of suffering more broadly as well as the ways in which geography plays a role in mediating the effects of government/military repression. Dan Hkung will consider the Kachin struggle, a case of particular importance at present as the intensification of conflict in Kachin state has occurred alongside the widely praised "democratic" reforms of the new Burmese government. Paing Soe Hlaing will relate his own experiences of the challenges of negotiating mixed Mon-Burman heritage, whilst Karen Hargrave will share the perspectives of Mon friends and colleagues working to advance human rights for this ethnic population.

This talk examines Land Politicis in Burma Kevin Woods has been engaged in research and activism on land politics in Burma for over a decade. His initial research focused on the Burma-China timber trade, but since then has expanded to include research on the country's emerging agribusiness sector as the frontline of land grabs and conflict. Most of his work has focused on examining Chinese agribusiness in northern Burma as part of China's opium substitution programme, and its entanglements with drug militias, counterinsurgency and land grabs. Most recently Kevin has conducted participatory action research on farmers' resistances to land grabs during the current reform period under the new military-backed government. Kevin's land reform research at the national scale, supported by specific cases studies in contested ethnic resource-rich territories, allows him to go beyond the veneer of 'the new Myanmar' to understand how Burma's infamous military institution and crony capitalism begin to merge with neoliberal development, this time backed by western development aid and finance institutions.

This talk examines the recent rise of violence perpetrated by Buddhist nationalists on Muslim and Christian residents in Sri Lanka and Myanmar. The recent emergence of Buddhist nationalist movements in Myanmar and Sri Lank--represented most prominently by the 969 Movement and Bodu Bala Sena, respectively--has resulted in violence directed against Muslims and Christians as well as a renewed attention to questions of religious tolerance and state-religion relations in the two countries. This talk will examine historical and contemporary connections between these two Theravada Buddhist countries and consider their different trajectories of monastic involvement in politics. Why have such similar movements emerged, given the countries' quite different socio-political positions, Myanmar in the midst of an uncertain transition out of poverty and military rule, and Sri Lanka coming off the brutal conclusion of a civil war in which the state emerged the victor? Of particular interest here are the ideologies and arguments deployed by Buddhist actors in both countries to justify their attitudes and actions towards non-Buddhists. Talk given by Dr Matthew J Walton, Aung San Suu Kyi Senior Research Fellow in Modern Burmese Studies, St Antony’s College, University of Oxford