Myanmar S Mountain And Maritime Borderscapes

This edited volume adds to the literature on Myanmar and its borders by drawing attention to the significance of geography, history, politics and society in the construction of the border regions and the country. First, it alerts us to the fact that the border regions are situated in the mountainous and maritime domains of the country, highlighting the commonalities that arise from shared geography. Second, the book foregrounds socio-spatio practices — economic, intimate, spiritual, virtual — of border and boundary-making in their local context. This demonstrates how state-defined notions of territory, borders and identity are enacted or challenged. Third, despite sharing common features, Myanmar’s borderscapes also possess unique configurations of ethnic, political and economic attributes, producing social formations and figured worlds that are more cohesive or militant in some border areas than in others. Understanding and comparing these social practices and their corresponding life-worlds allows us to re-examine the connections from the borderlands back to the hinterland and to consider the value of border and boundary studies in problematizing and conceptualizing recent changes in Myanmar. “This ambitious project combines sophisticated theorization of boundary-making as a form of social practice and empirical studies of Myanmar’s heterogeneous borderlands, both land and sea. Seeing the country from its edges opens up a provocative and altogether novel vision of the contestations joining diverse peripheries and centre. This volume brings together the leading scholars of the country in a collection that is a must-have for anyone interested in contemporary Myanmar, border studies, and Southeast Asia.” -- Itty Abraham, Head, Department of Southeast Asian Studies, National University of Singapore (NUS) “This is the first book to attempt to bring together such a diverse range of Myanmar’s land and maritime border regions for comparison. In doing so, it highlights the diversity of the country’s demographic, social, economic and political make-up when viewed from the margins rather than the centre. It reveals how these border regions help to constitute the nation and how they shape what modern Myanmar is today — they also give strong indicators of what it might become. This is an essential read for anyone in the social sciences interested in borderlands, as well as those requiring a broader understanding of the challenges facing the contemporary Myanmar government as it attempts to usher in social and political cohesion following decades of conflict.” -- Mandy Sadan, Reader in the History of South East Asia, School of Oriental & African Studies (SOAS)

This Handbook provides an in-depth discussion on doing cross-cultural research more ethically, sensibly and responsibly with diverse groups of people around the globe. It focuses on cross-cultural research in the social sciences where researchers who are often from Western, educated and rich backgrounds are conducting research with individuals from different socio-cultural settings that are often non-Western, illiterate and poor.

In Asia, where authoritarian-developmental states have proliferated, statehood and social control are heavily contested in borderland spaces. As a result, in the post-Cold War world, borders have not only redefined Asian incomes and mobilities, they have also rekindled neighbouring relations and raised questions about citizenship and security. The contributors to the Routledge Handbook of Asian Borderlands highlight some of these processes taking place at the fringe of the state. Offering an array of comparative perspectives of Asian borders and borderlands in the global context, this handbook is divided into thematic sections, including: Livelihoods, commodities and mobilities Physical land use and agrarian transformations Borders and boundaries of the state and the notion of statelessness Re-conceptualizing trade and the economy in the borderlands The existence and influence of humanitarians, religions, and NGOs The militarization of borderlands Causing us to rethink and fundamentally question some of the categories of state, nation, and the economy, this is an important resource for students and scholars of Asian Studies, Border Studies, Social and Cultural Studies, and Anthropology. Chapter 12 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

Outsourcing the Polity offers a new account of social outsourcing in post-independence Myanmar, demonstrating how the bankrupt post-socialist junta mediated market reform in the 1990s and 2000s and forced private and non-state actors to take the burden for social welfare. Informed by research during Myanmar's decade of partial civilian rule (2011–2021), Gerard McCarthy examines how ideals and practices of non-state welfare can both sustain democratic resistance and undermine social reform over time. Rather than expand government-led social action funded by direct taxation, grassroots activists and democratic leaders after 2011 variously framed government social action as ineffective, undesirable, and even corrosive of civic norms. They instead encouraged citizens to be "self-reliant" and support each other, including during disasters. Powerful tycoons filled the social gap, using public philanthropy to remake their reputations and to defend their ongoing expropriation of land and state assets from potential democratic redistribution. With non-state social actors more important than ever following Myanmar's return to dictatorship in 2021, Outsourcing the Polity casts new light on the lasting legacies of outsourcing for distributive politics.

This document includes eight studies showcasing good practices in support of sustainable small-scale fisheries. FAO commissioned these studies aiming to share experiences and promote the implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (SSF Guidelines). The case studies were also intended to promote participatory approaches – in line with the SSF Guidelines principles – and to promote increased interaction between research and fishing communities, including the use of traditional knowledge and participatory research. It is hoped that the case studies will inform policy and policy processes and, in this way, promote sustainable small-scale fisheries according to the SSF Guidelines and the human rights-based approach to development (HRBA). The case studies constitute a rich selection of experiences and are diverse, not only with regard to their geographical setting but also in scope and approach. They span from looking at one specific tool for sharing experiences (the fisheries learning exchanges methodology in Madagascar and Mozambique) or examining the enabling environment in a specific thematic area (disaster risks in Bangladesh), to regional policy formulation on small-scale fisheries (the SSF Guidelines protocol for Caribbean policies) and reflection on how to use the SSF Guidelines in participatory processes (the Myanmar step-by-step approach to discussions with small-scale fisheries communities). A few of the papers look at co-management, in some cases combining fisheries management and social development (Senegal, Uruguay and Nepal), with one focusing on the role of small-scale fisheries and community organizations (India). Generally, the case studies refer to HRBA but, perhaps because many of the activities have taken place in the past, it seems that HRBA has rarely been consciously and explicitly implemented. Still, the case studies bear witness to a number of experiences and practices that are clearly steps in the right direction. Key good practices emerging from the studies refer to, among other things, holistic approaches to co-management and social responsibility; broad engagement, inclusiveness and partnerships; the power of communication; and gender equality and the role of women. As more experience is gained, our knowledge of how to go about implementing the SSF Guidelines will improve and nurture new and continued initiatives. For the present and the future, efforts should be made to apply HRBA, while continuing to share experiences and good practices showing how to do so when implementing the SSF Guidelines.

Bringing together scholars and educators based in Myanmar, the USA, the UK, Denmark, and Thailand, this book presents new perspectives and research on the struggle for social justice and peace in Myanmar at this critical juncture. It shows how actors from diverse backgrounds and regions of Myanmar are drawing from their identities, evoking their agency, and using critical pedagogy to advance social justice and peace. The chapters provide the compelling life stories of the authors, specific examples of what they are doing, and insights of how their work might be applied to other contexts. The topics discussed include addressing structural violence, peace curriculum development, identity-based conflict, teaching the history of the country, promoting inclusion, civic education, critical pedagogy, teacher agency, and agendas of research funding for peacebuilding. The foreword and afterword, written by well-known scholars of Myanmar, address the relevance and importance of the book vis-a-vis the current social and political crisis following the February 2021 military coup.

Despite the enshrinement by the United Nations in 1948 of education as a universal human right, and despite the ideals espoused in the Education for All declaration in Dakar in 1990, it is patently clear that these ideals remain far from realized for a substantial portion of humankind. Especially at risk are vulnerable segments of society such as women, migrants, refugees, rural populations, ethnic minorities, and the financially disadvantaged. This book centres on efforts to provide education to these marginalized populations in the East and Southeast Asian region. Of particular interest are questions of financing and control. As various governments have struggled to manage the escalating costs of building schools, training teachers and educating students, the topic of public private partnerships in educational provision has assumed growing importance. The seven chapters presented here highlight a variety of partnerships among state, civil society and non-government organisations (NGOs).