Inya Institute Winter 2025 Newsletter

The Inya Institute

Quarterly Newsletter Winter 2025 More than a year after the start of Operation 1027, a successful campaign by ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) to control many cities and infrastructure in the Shan State, Rakhine State is also on the cusp of being taken over by the Arakan Army. Meanwhile the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) is making headway in Northern Myanmar. The Tatmadaw’s countrywide struggle is compounded by botched conscription that results in new conscripts surrendering to resistance forces once they are sent to the frontline. In this context, Myanmar people are anxious to see what 2025 will have in store for them after nearly four years of economic struggle, widespread military assaults by the Tatmadaw on civilian population, and massive displacement.

Despite these dire conditions, research is still possible within Myanmar, and may even, under very specific circumstances and for certain topics, be encouraged. On pp.

10–12, two Ph.D. students from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), Aye Thiri Kyaw and Isabelle Pearson, present an overview of their research conducted in this post-coup period in various parts of the country. Thiri spoke with groups of child workers on their working conditions and Isabelle with groups of adolescent girls on their mental health. While much of the scholarship currently produced involves investigations of antijunta movements in the outlying areas of the country and along its borders, both researchers show the importance of

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studying “invisible” groups and the extent to which their life has been affected by the military coup in areas still controlled by the junta.

At Inya, work is underway to develop an advanced beginners’ curriculum for the three languages offered (Karen, Kachin, and Shan) as part of our Languages of Myanmar course series. This is done in collaboration with Minnesota’s Saint Paul Public Schools System (which has been training Karen language teachers for K-12 kids of the Karen diaspora), Cornell’s Southeast Asia Program (SEAP) and University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill’s Carolina Asia Center. We hope to offer this advanced beginners’ level in 2026. In the meantime, our introductory course will run as usual in Summer 2025. Stay tuned to our Facebook page for the announcement!

Lastly, join us in congratulating our five new 2025 CAORC-INYA fellows! May Shine, Katherine Pulaski, and Drake Avila are our three new Short-term Fellows; Courtney Wittekind and Michael Barrett are our two new Scholars’ Fellows. Read about their research topics on p. 13! In a first since the launch of the fellowship program, the entire cohort consists of researchers planning to conduct field work along the Thai–Myanmar border. Their research projects promise to provide significant insights on current developments happening there.

The Inya Institute team in Yangon

In this issue Reflections from the Field 3 The Techno-Archive: To What End? by D. Santistevan Reflections from the Field 5 Linking Embodied Knowledge of Migration from Myanmar to Institutional Histories to the Thai Burma Border, by N. Venker Reflections from the Field 7 Investigating Tobacco Use among Myanmar Refugees in Mizoram, India, by T. Chin In Focus 10 Researching Child Domestic Work in the Myanmar Context, by Aye Thiri Kyaw In Focus 11 Ethical Challenges of Research amidst Crisis: A Participatory Approach with Adolescent Girls and

Young Women in Myanmar, by I. Pearson New Fellows at Inya 13 2025 CAORC-INYA Fellows New Books on Myanmar 16

Address in Myanmar: 50 B-1 Thirimingala Street (2) 8th Ward Kamayut Township Yangon, Myanmar +95(0)17537884

Library: It currently holds a little more than 830 titles and offers free access to scholarly works on Myanmar Studies published overseas that are not readily available in the country. It also has original works published on neighboring Southeast Asian countries and textbooks on various fields of social sciences and humanities. Optic fiber wifi connection is also provided without any charge.

Address in the U.S.: c/o Center for Burma Studies 101 Pottenger House 520 College View Court Northern Illinois University DeKalb, IL 60115 USA +1 815-753-0512

Library digital catalog: Access here.

Working hours: 9am-5pm (Mon-Fri)

Director of Publication: Dr. François Tainturier

Digital archive: It features objects, manuscripts, books, paintings, and photographs identified, preserved, and digitized during research projects undertaken by the institute throughout Myanmar and its diverse states and regions. The collections featured here reflect the country’s religious, cultural, and ethnic diversity and the various time periods covered by the institute’s projects developed in collaboration with local partners.

Administrative Assistant: Thin Thin Thar Digital Resources and Info Assistant: Shun Lai Pyae Sone Education and Training Manager: Pyae Phyoe Myint U.S. Liaison Officer: Carmin Berchiolly Contact us: contact@inyainstitute.org Visit us on Facebook: facebook.com/inyainstitute.org

Digital archive: Access here.

The Inya Institute is a member center of the Council of American Research Centers (CAORC).

It is funded by the U.S. Department of Education under Title VI of the Higher Education Act (2024-2028).

Institutional Members Center for Burma Studies Northern Illinois University

Center for Asian Research Arizon State University

Southeast Asia Program Cornell University

Center for Southeast Asian Studies Carolina Asia Center York Asia Center for Reseearch Northern Illinois University University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill York University Academic Board

Board of Directors

Maxime Boutry, Centre Asie du Sud-Est, Paris Jane Ferguson, Australian National University Lilian Handlin, Harvard University Bod Hudson, Sydney University Mathias Jenny, Chiang Mai University Ni Ni Khet, University Paris 1-Sorbonne Alexey Kirichenko, Moscow State University Christian Lammerts, Rutgers University Mandy Sadan, University of Warwick San San Hnin Tun, INALCO, Paris Juliane Schober, Arizona State University Nicola Tannebaum, Lehigh University (retd) Alicia Turner, York University, Toronto U Thaw Kaung, Yangon Universities’ Central Library (retd)

President: Catherine Raymond (Northern Illinois University)(retd) Treasurer: Alicia Turner (York University, Toronto) Secretary: François Tainturier Jane Ferguson (Australian National University) Lilian Handlin (Harvard University) Nicola Tannenbaum (Lehigh University)(retd) Thamora Fishel (Cornell University) Aurore Candier (Northern Illinois University) 2

Ref lec tions f rom the Field The Techno-Archive: To What End? Dominiquo Santistevan is a Ph.D. Candidate in Sociology at the University of Chicago. Focusing on the final years of the nineteenth century in Burma, his dissertation project investigates the changing relationship between politics, economics, and conflict that gave shape to the emerging inter-imperial regional order. Dominiquo was one of the 2024 CAORCINYA fellows. The CAORC-INYA fellowships are funded by CAORC through a grant from the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. State Department.

The Asia & Africa Studies Reading Room at the British Library is a familiar place to anyone studying Myanmar’s colonial past. For those of us lucky enough to stay beyond a few days, we begin to recognize familiar faces. We learn the small tricks to streamline our day. And once that day begins, we know we have approximately seven hours to do as much as we can before we’re asked to leave again. The archival constraints are exclusivity and local proximity: with the time given, we must overcome these constraints, whether by reading documents and internally synthesizing their contents, or the more digital route, the phone scan–we excavate from that store that is the archive. If we planned our trip with sufficient thoroughness–meaning we outlined which records we would need to request, approximately how long each would take, and maybe with the remaining time, places where we might explore–, each day may be roughly accounted for before the trip even begins.

When time is a scarce resource, this approach would make sense, but as anyone who has spent enough time studying documents in the British Library likely knows, a linear path towards a singular a priori goal is tough, almost impossible, to maintain because our relationship to the documents is

dynamic, and this dynamic movement is mediated by tools constantly in development. About one year ago, this technical mediation became impossible to ignore.

Last October, the British Library was the victim of a ransomware attack, effectively dismantling the digital infrastructure overnight. For months, academic production waited in darkness. The British Library has successfully revived or rebuilt much of the digital infrastructure over the past year, but not all of it. Prior to the attack, a library user (or reader, as they’re called) would log into his or her account to find past searches and bookmarked records. The reader might submit some of these bookmarked records for viewing. Or alternatively, they might type in a few keywords into the catalogue, follow some tags attached to previously viewed records, or scroll through the collection tree and pin a few more for later. If the record was already

Pic. 1: British Library St. Pancras model

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digitized, the reader could just save the link or download the file locally, and for the records that required physical inspection, the record could be called to the desk within in about an hour, and each day, the reader was allowed to call up to ten items, sometimes more. Since the attack, the archival experience has reflected the relative state of recovery.

During my own visit this past August and September, my relationship to the materials was much more analogue. And more than just a matter of adjusting my practice, it felt like a unique snapshot into another way of performing research and another way of understanding what an archive might be.

Most archival materials remained accessible and complete, yet they were accessible without the digital platforms and searchability, and further, most hand list and indexes also were not available outside of the reading room.

This had two immediate implications.

First, had I even wanted to plan out my archival work, the planning could only have gone so far.

Without hand lists and indexes, the only means by which I could’ve located documents was through archival reference guides, usually available in my own university library, or the incomplete surrogate database that was available through

the National Archive. In either case the complexity of the growing mass of Archive.” Thus, while the records were so-called thorough planning would pro- information. So even though the general functionally “alive,” oriented towards the duce a much sparser outline than if the orientation of record keeping remained, ends of government, the records have digital catalogue had existed. Second, in theory, towards practical ends, they since transformed into something else without text search, I was forced to exwere similarly an historical accumulaafter this raison d’etre became otherwise, pand my mental account of the archival tion of habits and workarounds, and when there was no India Office and structure through trial and error. While sometimes these practical workarounds therefore no practical ends. But yet the text search generally produces a series of had impractical consequences. archive “lives” on. documents that may be of some relIn 1899, the Viceroy of India, Lord As scholars, we enter the archive, evance to the topic or event of interests, Curzon, spoke about exactly this in his usually, as individuals with our own alone it lacks structure, forcing me to Memoranda on the System of Noting in ends in mind. We have to publish a pathink more explicitly about my relation- the Departments of the Government of per, finish a chapter, or find a particular ship to the archival materials and the India. The system of notation, whereby documents to fill in some gap. Institurelationships between records–a painful documents are circulated among tional pressures and time constraints yet invaluable process. administrators, sometimes between structure the conditions on which we Archives are made in all different departments for comment, is itself make that confrontation, and though it ways for all different purposes. What an historical legacy, and this accreted may not seem like it, we are also shaped gives the concept coherence is the relabody may be more than the sum of and changed in the process. The logic is tionship between time and the instituits parts. Curzon’s memorandum is a a threefold path: our understanding of tional domains of authority. The India critique of the deviation from practihistorical change reflects our knowledge Office Records, of the archive; to take the our knowledge most obvious of the archive example, were is structured not made with through our the intention practical of becoming interactions a fixed set of with materidocuments to als; and lastly, eventually sit that practical in the Britinteraction, ish Library. the bridging They’re of conjecture effectively with confirmaadministrative tion, is medidocuments ated by tools. built with the The India very pragmatic Office Records intention of are no longer a government. tool of practiWhen an cal governadministrament, and with Pic. 2: The Burma-China Boundary Commission 1898-9 (Sir James Scott Collection, Photo 92: British Library) tor faced a that, there new problem, is no longer they searched the past for relatively cal ends. Presumably each adjustment a figure like George Curzon to lead analogous circumstances from which and update to the system of noting was reforms against the accumulation of histhey might distill the lessons of governaimed towards practical ends, but as torical accidents towards the end of effiment. To form this hypothetical distilCurzon points out, no prior change did ciency, yet the machine rolls on. The site lation, generally in the form of a report, more than tinker with a failing system. of knowledge production–in this case, the administrator needed to navigate The radical changes necessary to realign the institutional intersection between the existing records, locate referenced the practical ends of government with academic research and a major public documents, and investigate the broader the very body of documents that record institution like the British Library–is context of these past situations. This its life were not recognized. In a telling broad, yet the very question of its end research required tools and knowledge example, Curzon complains about how and whether that end is good should not of how the records are arranged. Cona simple question of the promotion of a be lost in the institutional expanse. Yes, stantly and continuously, civil servants Colonel produced over 50 pages of notes sometimes we’re given surveys about our in their respective departments read and extended over 14 months before experience in the reading room. And through existing records, made notes, reaching his desk: “What an intolerable in other rare cases, the infrastructure and later catalogued the subjects into scandal!” It is this very system, moving breaks down–or is deliberately broken in collections, including what we might and twisting through history both with the case of the cyber-attack–, revealing call “meta data” into large volumes. its own momentum but also reflecting to us that this so-called “dead” archive, Administrative changes meant changes and internalizing the wills of people is still quite alive and being shaped every in record keeping, further increasing like Lord Curzon, that has become “the day. I can only ask: to what end?

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Ref lec tions f rom the Field Linking Embodied Knowledge of Migration from Myanmar to Institutional Histories of the Thai-Burma Border Nicole T. Venker is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Natural Resources at Cornell University. She is a humanenvironment geographer interested in the shifting relationships between people and land in the context of transnational migration. Following the CAORC-INYA fellowship, she will continue research and scholarly exchange in Thailand with support from the Society of Women Geographers and the Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies. Nicole was one of the 2024 CAORC-INYA fellows. The CAORC-INYA fellowships are funded by CAORC through a grant from the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. State Department.

How are everyday relationships with livelihoods, such as fishing and hunting, This led to mass displacements in souththe environment transformed across are both transformed and forged anew eastern Myanmar, including Mon, Tanborders? Amid the challenges of displace- across the distant landscapes that our intharyi, Karenni, Bago, and Karen states ment and resettlement, how do people participants have traversed. and regions. My research with those who forge meaningful connections with My research in the US inspired me to navigated, survived, and sustained internature in new landscapes? What insights continue my doctoral studies in Thaigenerational lives across these areas has can we learn from changes in labor, land through the 2024 CAORC-Inya illuminated how relationships between livelihood, and environmental pracShort-Term Fellowship for U.S. Gradupeople and the environment shift across tices among migrants about the broader ate Students Conducting Fieldwork in a spaces, particularly under transnational geopolitics of migration and mobility?

Third Country. Most of the individuals I regimes of refugee migration. To further These are some of the big questions that encountered in my research are among contextualize the embodied knowledge motivate my PhD research. the millions who migrated from Myshared by participants, I aimed to better As a graduate student, I understand the institutional have dedicated much of my networks and political time to exploring these quesstructures that shape transtions in Upstate New York, national migration pathwhere I live, work, and study. ways.

Together with my research Hosted as a visiting collaborator, Patrick Kum scholar at the Chiang Mai Jaa Lee, we engaged with University Regional Center multi-ethnic communities for Social Science and of migrants from Myanmar, Sustainable Development focusing on those who resetduring the fellowship petled in the US as refugees riod, I sought to learn about during the 2000s and 2010s. humanitarian interventions, Our goal was to understand policy shifts, and governhow Myanmar migrants’ ance practices as emergeveryday relationships to ing since the 1980s that the environment have been are embedded in the long shaped by broader histories history of the Thai-Burma Pic. 1: A research participant in Upstate New York points to a photo while discussing and experiences of migration border. This led me to his memories of life on the Thai-Burma border in the 1990s. from Myanmar to the US. identify as well as meet with We conducted in-depth interviews and anmar as refugees in the 2000s, tracing scholars, humanitarian practitioners, civil oral histories, examining how migrants’ their journeys from rural Burma through society groups, and non-governmental livelihoods have been shaped by the Thailand before resettling in the US. organizations working on transborhistories of conflict in Burma, bordering Their migration histories were shaped by der issues, whose expertise helped me regimes in neighboring Southeast Asian the aftermath of the 1988 pro-democracy better contextualize and reflect on the countries, and resettlement practices in movement, during which the Burmese knowledge shared with me by my earlier the US. We pay particular attention to government intensified offensives against research communities. By spending how rural ways of life and environmental ethnic organizations and activist groups. time in Chiang Mai, Bangkok, and Mae 5

Sot, I got the chance to meet cited to engage in discussions with such organizations and about themes of migration, individuals, albeit over a brief food systems, and the environfew months, providing me a ment beyond the scope of my narrow window into the rich own research. These opportubody of knowledge that have nities helped refine my writing, both preserved knowledge identify broader theoretical or about and influenced forms of empirical overlaps, and share mobility in the region. In the ideas with people interested wider scope of my research in similar topics in different questions, this stage helped geographic contexts. me to conceptually merge Focusing on themes of livetwo different kinds of knowllihood and migration inevitaedge about the Thai-Burma bly led me to also learn more border – knowledge which about the contemporary poliis preserved in institutional tics of migration from Burma memories or and written reto Thailand, driven by various cords, and knowledge which is intersecting factors following produced and preserved in the the 2021 military coup. These Pic. 2: Hand-drawn maps, published by the Border Consortium’s 1991 and 1992 embodied experiences of those annual reports, illustrate refugee and student camps on the Thai-Burma border. drivers include armed violence, whose lives have been shaped by forced conscriptions, targeting the politics of conflict, displaceof activists, climate change, and relevance of studying the intersections of ment, and migration. rapid economic downturn. Since 2021, environmental access, livelihoods, and I also learned about books, articles, explicit and structural forms of violence migration, outside of the US context. maps, and reports to consult, laying out have escalated throughout the country, One of the highlights of my fellowan agenda for further literature-based particularly in rural regions, renewing ship was the opportunity to present some work. These resources, such as NGO historical drivers of displacement and of my previous research to scholars and reports, maps, news stories, and various leading to new forms of migration within researchers based in Thailand, particuacademic publications helped shed new and beyond the country’s borders. larly those from Myanmar. During the light on the social and political dynamics fellowship, I gave two presentations While the core of my PhD research of migration from Myanmar to Thailand has focused on understanding how focusing on challenges and importance that I had earlier learned about from relationships to labor, livelihood, and of environmental access in the context interlocutors. For example, maps pubenvironment have shifted for those of resettlement to the US. Specifically, lished in the Border Consortium’s annual I shared early findings on how rural who resettled abroad during historical reports illustrate the shifting landscape waves of migration from Myanmar, the of informal and formal key themes, patterns, and refugee camps between the issues I address are not 1990s and 2000s through isolated from the contemwhich my earlier participorary politics of displacepants had moved. Addiment and resettlement tionally, I was able to hear today. Investigating the from experts and scholars past while also learning about the temporal changes more about the contemin border governance, porary allowed me to see including how the humanisome of the continuities, tarian aid landscape has disruptions, and parallels shifted over time, as well as between historical and key changes in transborder present-day patterns of labor migration policy/ displacement. During the processes. This was an exfellowship, I reflected on citing time in my research the interconnectedness of career because it allowed migration issues across Pic. 3: Enjoying samosa after participating in a group discussion with Thailandme to talk with people different time periods and based scholars from Myanmar. interested in similar quesgeographies of mass distions and topics, coming placement. In the future, I from different approaches, expertise, and hope to continue engaging, find interlivelihood activities, such as fishing, life experiences. The generosity, kindsections, and learning with those I met are transformed within the labor, food, ness, and interest from those passionate during the fellowship to develop new and resource governance regimes that about and working on migration issues, empirical and theoretical directions for migrants encounter upon resettlement, either from a professional or personal understanding the impacts of displaceand the enduring importance of environperspective, were both motivating for ment on people’s relationships to nature, mental access for individual, cultural, and me as a scholar, as well as allowed me to and ways of supporting environmental community well-being. I received helpful think more broadly about the potential equity across borders. feedback from audiences, and I was ex6

Ref lec tions f rom the Field Investigating Tobacco Use Among Myanmar Refugees in Mizoram, India Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, Teresa Chin earned a B.A. in Neuroscience from Rice University and will begin medical school in Fall 2025. With experience in hospice and emergency care, as well as research on genetic epilepsy, she is passionate about addressing health and educational inequities in underserved and refugee populations. Since December 2023, she has collaborated with Thantlang Council International to support Myanmar refugees and develop strategies to improve the well-being of Thantlang and Chin State, the region her family calls home. Teresa is dedicated to creating meaningful, long-term impact in marginalized communities through service and research. Teresa was one of the 2024 CAORC-INYA fellows. The CAORC-INYA fellowships are funded by CAORC through a grant from the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. State Department.

Experiences from the Thantlang Refugee Community

many Chin diaspora members who have visited the refugee communities since 2021, I decided to investigate this issue further. My project titled, “The Attitudes and Prevalence of Tobacco Use Among Thantlang Refugees in Mizoram,” took place between June and

Methodology

I used a mixed-methods approach, Following the 2021 military coup in integrating qualitative interviews and Myanmar, many residents of Thantlang, quantitative surveys to gain a comprea town located in Chin State, Myanmar, hensive understanding of tobacco use were forced to flee across the border among Thantlang refugees in Mizoram. into Mizoram, where As a Chin person myself, they now live as refugees. and a fluent speaker of Preliminary observations Hakha Chin, the priduring a previous trip to mary language of the the refugee settlements in Thantlang refugees, I December 2023 revealed was able to communicate concern among pastors directly with participants, and elders regarding eliminating the need for widespread tobacco use in a translator and allowing the Thantlang township for more candid conversarefugee community. tions. Connections to the The heavy tobacco use refugee community were among locals in Mizoram established by Thantlang further raised the quesCouncil International, tion of how displacement a US-based non-profit has affected the Thantconsisting of Thantlang lang community. Northdiaspora who seek to Pic. 1: Examples of Tobacco Products Sold in Mizoram. Many tobacco products often feature east India, particularly, conceptualize and aid the warnings (written in English) against tobacco use. They are often part of public health initiaMizoram, faces a critical development of the Thanttives to inform consumers about the significant health risks associated with tobacco use. public health challenge lang Township and Chin Thantlang Council International. 2024. with its alarmingly high State as a whole. rates of tobacco use, which Thus, I directly internotably includes tobacco chewing and August 2024 and was aimed at underviewed community leaders, including smoking. According to the Global Adult standing the extent of tobacco use in pastors, teachers, and parents, as well as Tobacco Survey (GATS), over 58% of this vulnerable community and the facstudents and young adults, to explore men and 27% of women in Mizoram use tors driving its persistence, in the hopes their knowledge and perspectives on tobacco, either by smoking or chewing. that this understanding will result in tobacco use. Data collection took place Based on these insights, as well as more informed projects to combat this in various community settings such as concerns raised by the refugees and issue. churches, refugee homes, refugee camps, 7

and schools attended by Thantlang refugees. In addition to individual interviews and surveys, group discussions were also facilitated to further explore attitudes and beliefs regarding tobacco use in the community. I also recorded personal observations regarding tobacco use and how people interact with it in different settings.

Key Findings 1. Increased Tobacco Use Among Refugees Post-Displacement The first overall finding from my research was that based on the data collected, tobacco use among Thantlang refugees has significantly risen since displacement to Mizoram. Interviews with parents, nurses, teachers, and pastors reveal that tobacco use, once limited among immediate Thantlang citizens, has become more widespread in their view, to the point that even little children can be seen playing with tobacco products in more rural areas. While increased use is attributed to different factors, one overarching theme emphasized by participants of each occupation and age was the overall increased availability and access to tobacco in Mizoram.

2. Lack of Regulation and Easy Accessibility When further exploring exposure to tobacco products, especially among the youth, many interviewees pointed to a lack of regulation on tobacco products.

In Mizoram, children can purchase tobacco due to the lack of enforcement on tobacco sales to minors. Tobacco is consistently sold in both permanent, building-based stores and small, shackstyle street vendors. Stores often feature warning signs about tobacco use with graphic images, which imply that tobacco use will lead to mouth diseases. However, no actual restrictions exist.

During one group discussion with Thantlang refugee students in Aizawl, young boys reported purchasing tobacco using money from friends or parents, with some being introduced to it through candy packaged to resemble tobacco products. One English teacher specifically recalled seeing these types of candies and shared his personal theory that they are intentionally marketed to condition young consumers to purchase tobacco products in the future. Surveys also revealed that 75% of male stu-

Pic. 2: A warning sign depicting the negative effects of chewing tobacco on the mouth. The sign reads, in Mizo, that people under the age of 18 should not use tobacco. Thantlang Council International. 2024.

dents in grades 9-12 at a predominantly refugee-attended high school admitted to past tobacco use. This early exposure to tobacco and even tobacco-like products, coupled with minimal regulation, may pose significant health risks and implications for future use.

3. Existing Educational Efforts on Tobacco Risks Since Chin refugee communities have settled into Mizoram for the past 1-2 years, one important question to explore was also the interventions that have been made thus far in attempts to lower tobacco use among the community. Across all participants, refugees reported that they have been exposed to or been part of anti-tobacco-use lessons and education. These speeches or presentations are offered in different aspects of community life, with one significant area being the church.

Within the predominantly Christian Thantlang community, tobacco use is viewed as a sin since it has the potential to harm the physical body, the temple of the Holy Spirit. Sunday school teachers, pastors, and church elders all recalled repeating this rhetoric to both children and adults through sermons and Sunday School lessons, though they said that this has been overall ineffective, especially when speaking to teenagers.

At schools established by refugee communities, or schools with prominent refugee enrollment, the dangers of tobacco use are frequently highlighted. For older students in particular, the effects of drug and alcohol use are highlighted in biology courses, and the pathophysiol8

ogy of tobacco smoking is taught. When asking refugee 9-12th grade students about their knowledge of tobacco use, many were able to answer about how it can cause issues in the lungs and cancer in the mouth.

From the wider Mizo community, some public schools in Mizoram prohibit tobacco use and conduct awareness programs led by nurses and the Young Lai Association (YLA) twice a year. Refugeerun schools also hold nightly meetings where they often warn students about tobacco’s dangers, emphasizing its physical and spiritual harms. Overall, it is clear that efforts to educate refugees about tobacco’s harmful effects are ongoing, both within the refugee community and from the wider Mizo community.

4. Social and Cultural Acceptance of Tobacco Despite efforts to lower tobacco use among the refugee community, cultural norms and the social acceptance of tobacco in Mizoram, and an increasing acceptance among the refugee community, may limit the effectiveness of these educational initiatives. Interviewees reported that cultural practices in Mizo and Northeast Indian communities normalize tobacco use, making it a common social gesture and even a part of religious gatherings. For example, one Thantlang pastor noted that tobacco has been placed in church offering baskets in one Mizo church. He also recalled being shocked as multiple Mizo church elders began chewing tobacco in one meeting between Chin and Mizo church leaders, saying that this behavior would have been unacceptable in Thantlang.

Final Notes Overall, tobacco access and consumption have reportedly increased among the Thantlang refugee community in Mizoram since their displacement from Myanmar. My findings indicate that addressing this issue will require more than education alone, as tobacco use is becoming increasingly socially accepted, particularly among teens and young adults.

A multifaceted approach will be needed needed, though challenges may arise due to the community’s status as refugees in India. Stricter government enforcement of laws restricting minors’ access to tobacco would be essential, alongside community engagement efforts by leaders, educators, and healthcare workers to

Acknowledgments

raise awareness about the harmful effects of tobacco use.

In the future, collaboration with organizations such as Thantlang Council International and health-based organizations on the field, and dialogue with local government officials regarding tobacco restrictions can help address the environmental factors enabling tobacco consumption. Through collective and culturally sensitive efforts, it may be possible to promote a healthier lifestyle even in the face of displacement, in which refugees are already at risk of various health challenges.

Finally, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Inya Institute and its team for their invaluable support for my research. I look forward to continuing our collaboration to enhance our understanding of the complex cultural, socioeconomic, and health challenges facing Myanmar, particularly its diverse ethnic groups, cultures, and rich history.

Pic. 3: A school built and established by refugees near Saiha, Mizoram, where teachers were interviewed regarding student tobacco use, school life, and personal views on tobacco use in the community. Refugee schools are often built directly by community members if there is no possibility of renting a proper building. Thantlang Council International. 2024.

2025 Fellowship Applications are now open!

Full information here The Fellow will be expected to mentor the groups of Myanmar junior researchers on a broad variety of themes related to Myanmar’s borderlands.

Building on the success of the inaugural 2023 fellowship, the Inya Institute is now accepting applications for a Fellow to lead the Summer 2025 Research and Mentoring program devoted to supporting the study of Myanmar’s borderlands.

The Fellow may be based in Thailand, India, Bangladesh, or Malaysia and will lead a series of online workshops sponsored by the institute with six groups of up to three Myanmar junior researchers from June 30 to August 1, 2025. During the online workshop sessions, the Fellow will mentor the groups of Myanmar junior researchers on the development of their research papers.

In addition to a stipend covering international travel, ground transportation, lodging, local subsistence, and internet costs, the Fellow will receive US $5,800 as teaching and mentorship fees. Within the limits of the time available outside of the Fellow’s mentoring duties, the Fellow is encouraged to engage in their own personal research work.

The Institute will organize a conference in 2026 on Myanmar’s borderlands in which both the Fellow and the groups of Myanmar junior researchers will participate and present their papers. This follows the success of the 2024 International Interdisciplinary Conference on Myanmar’s Borderlands (2024 IICMB) held at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok.

The first batch of online sessions (June 30-July 4) will focus on research design, guidance on research methods and field research with all participating Myanmar researchers. The remaining weeks (July 7-August 1) will involve one-on-one online mentoring sessions with each of the six groups of Myanmar junior researchers.

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In Focu s Researching Child Domestic Work in the Myanmar Context Aye Thiri Kyaw is a social and behavioural scientist whose research focuses on violence prevention, public health and the well-being of women and girls. She is PhD candidate of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM).

She is proficient in both advanced qualitative and quantitative research methods and has worked for UNOPS and UNOCHA. Thiri is also a feminist and gender equality advocate. The Inya Institute offered Thiri some guidance at the start of her field research.

Myanmar is known for its prolonged civil war, ongoing humanitarian crisis, and multi-ethnic complexity. The military takeover on February 1, 2021, has intensified the country’s political instability. According to the 2015 Myanmar Labour Force, Child Labour, and School-to-Work Transition Survey, an estimated 10.5 percent of the total child population is engaged in some form of work. Among these children, 9.3 percent are trapped in hazardous work, including agricultural employment, construction, mining, and domestic work.

However, current data on interventions for child domestic work, both globally and specifically in Myanmar, do not disaggregate working conditions and activities specific to child domestic work.

To develop effective interventions, precise information is needed on the multiple dimensions of child domestic work that affect health and well-being outcomes.

This project aims to use Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) to address this gap by gathering detailed information about different aspects of child domestic work.

This Ph.D. research was conceived after the military coup, so the research design did not need to be changed. How-

ever, protocols for ethics approval had to be adapted. Due to security concerns, it was not possible to obtain ethical approval from the Department of Medical Research (Lower Myanmar). In addition to the LSHTM ethics review committee, a panel of local research experts—familiar with conducting sensitive research in this setting—was formed to provide ethics advice throughout the project,

Pic. 1: Conducting interviews with study participants.

considering emerging risks to study participants and corresponding mitigation measures.

During data collection, the study collaborated with three local CSO partners who are established child protection actors in the selected study sites. Since this study is part of a larger programme, the “Invisible Girls” research initiative, relationships between my research 10

supervisors and the local partners were already in place. Participant recruitment was initially challenging, as child domestic workers (CDWs) often work behind closed doors and are isolated from the outside world. However, with support from the CSO partners, participants from the Yangon and Ayeyarwady divisions were successfully recruited. This approach was effective, as the organizations are trusted and well-known within the community.

However, due to sensitivity of interviewing current domestic workers, the study recruited 33 participants, former child domestic workers who recently quit domestic work.

Consent and assent were collected from all participants, with additional consent obtained from parents or guardians for those under 18. Our data collection team included three interviewers who were specially trained in ethical and childfriendly interview practices. However, interviewing younger children was challenging despite the use of childfriendly interview guides. During pilot sessions, children were initially reluctant to open up, likely perceiving me as an older, more experienced person from a large institution. To

help participants feel more comfortable, younger team members led the discussions. I learned that it’s generally more effective for interviewers to be in the same age bracket as the participants, who felt more at ease talking to them than to me, whom they saw as older and somewhat foreign, despite my own Burmese background. We provided flexibility in terms of timing, date, and interview location. Participants were also reimbursed for their time and travel expenses, as they often had to cancel work and travel to the interview location. The data we collected was often extremely distressing, so we ensured that the interviewers, transcribers, and translators were given adequate rest for their well-being.

Pic. 2: Study site in the Ayeyarwaddy Division.

This Ph.D. is based on the assumption that not all child domestic work is necessarily harmful; rather, there may be a spectrum of harm, from the most to least harmful, and even beneficial situations in some cases. Currently, we know very little about what constitutes the most harmful forms of child domestic work versus beneficial ones. Understanding this distinction is critical to ensure that future

interventions provide necessary support where it is most needed. This study aims to provide intervention evidence on how child domestic workers perceive their working conditions in Myanmar. Ultimately, the findings will serve as foundational data for future surveys and interventions for CDWs in Myanmar and beyond.

During consultations with our partners, we discovered that many of their programs have lost funding or are unlikely to receive extensions due to the extreme challenges of operating in Myanmar. However, from our experience, it is possible to continue research in Myanmar by being more resilient, flexible, and adaptable to the changing context. We heard numerous stories from former child domestic workers whose voices are seldom heard, and it has been an honour to amplify their voices through this project.

Ethical Challenges of Research amidst Crisis: A Participatory Approach with Adolescent Girls and Young Women in Myanmar Isabelle Pearson is a mixed-methods social and behavioural scientist and an independent public health consultant. She is currently a PhD candidate at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), where her research examines the wellbeing of adolescent girls and young women in low-income settings across Myanmar. Specifically, her research explores the critical intersections between mental health, conflict, and violence. The Inya Institute offered Isabelle some guidance at the start of her field research.

When we initially planned this study on adolescent girls’ health in Myanmar, we did not foresee the 2021 military coup, which ultimately led me to spend my first PhD year reassessing whether conducting our research remained ethical and feasible under the country’s new and challenging conditions. Research on adolescent girls’ health is ethically complex in any setting, but armed conflict and political insecurity intensifies these complexities. Since the recent coup, research in Myanmar has become increasingly

restricted and unwelcomed by the military. Therefore, now—in addition to the standard ethical responsibilities of researchers—critical attention is required to safeguard researcher and participant safety, prevent potential backlash and ensure detailed, robust data security.

To help navigate these challenges, we established a research team of six peer-researchers. These peerresearchers were young women who were former beneficiaries of our partner organisation Girl Determined’s 11

empowerment programme, which supports adolescent girls and young women from the lowest socioeconomic quintiles across Myanmar. By collaborating with peer-researchers, who bring both local expertise and lived experiences similar to our target population, we were able to co-design a study that was grounded in the reallife contexts of our participants. This approach ensured the study design was responsive to both the immediate needs and long-term wellbeing of the young women involved.

Pic. 1: Adolescent girls taking part in a participatory focus group.

Building on this collaborative foundation, we designed the study with a broad aim: to conceptualise the wellbeing of adolescent girls and young women facing multiple, overlapping crises. To achieve this, we began by conducting 12 participatory focus group discussions, led by our peer-researchers and engaging 73 girls and young women from Yangon and Mandalay, the results of which we used to develop a survey tool. We intentionally used the term wellbeing instead of physical or mental health, as wellbeing framed the study in a more positive light, helping to avoid placing additional emotional burden on participants. In Burmese, we translated wellbeing as “a good life” to ensure that the discussions were uplifting and supportive, especially considering the immense stress and insecurity faced by many of these young women. We found that the relatable presence of peer-researchers fostered a safe, positive, and culturally sensitive environment where participants felt comfortable sharing their experiences openly.

Interestingly, despite the intentionally positive framing of the focus groups—where participants were invited to draw and discuss what “a good life” meant to them— many were relieved to finally be asked about their lives in a safe and supportive space, where they felt acknowledged and heard. This open-

ness extended beyond our initial questions, as participants themselves raised sensitive topics related to their health and wellbeing, including their experiences of the ongoing conflict. Their willingness to share these personal experiences is a testament to the peer-researchers ability to facilitate a safe space and foster trust and confidence among the participants. Furthermore, with the support of our local organisation, and their network of contacts, we were able to provide a safe space where participants’ privacy and confidentiality were upheld.

Our close collaboration with the peer-researcher team meant that their expertise, local knowledge, and shared lived experiences with participants enabled us to safely explore the complex realities of girls’ wellbeing amid ongoing crisis and insecurity. However, despite its advantages, participatory research can risk becoming exploitative and performative, and that raises unique ethical challenges. Beyond facilitating the research, I was responsible for ensuring that ethical standards were upheld for both the participants and the peer-researchers themselves. Since obtaining local ethical approval from the government is not possible in Myanmar currently, we worked with local experts who critically reviewed our study protocol and provided ongoing ethical 12

guidance. Our local partner, Girl Determined, was also instrumental in developing a robust data management plan and referral procedure to safeguard participant and researcher safety and wellbeing.

When I began this project, I questioned whether conducting research in Myanmar was appropriate given the ongoing crisis. However, what I learnt from this experience was that for many young people, such as the young peer-researchers who I worked with, their ambitions and goals did not end when the coup happened.

With rising poverty, insecurity and burdens on mental and physical health, collecting data has become more important than ever. Such data not only empowers local organisations to target their interventions effectively but also strengthens their ability to advocate on national and international levels. Since the 2021 coup, funding for research in Myanmar has drastically declined, limiting essential support for the country’s population and curtailing opportunities for local researchers to continue their work. For international researchers looking to contribute meaningfully in Myanmar, my advice is to follow the lead of local experts, focus on capacity building for young researchers, and ensure the study design and dissemination of findings is led by those closest to the study population.

New Fellows at Inya

May Shine is a Master’s Degree student at the International Affairs Department of George Washington University. She mentions of her project titled “The Impact of Armed Conflict on Education Access in Myanmar’s Ethnic Minority Regions” that “Myanmar’s long-standing armed conflicts have severely impacted ethnic minority regions like Chin, Karen, Kachin, and Rakhine, disrupting education through school destruction, teacher displacement, and limited learning opportunities. This study examines the effects of conflict on education access for minority children, focusing on challenges such as inadequate infrastructure and psychological trauma. It also explores the role of nongovernmental actors, particularly Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) teachers, in sustaining education. The research aims to identify strategies and policy recommendations to improve education access despite ongoing conflict, offering valuable insights for policymakers and humanitarian organizations.”

Drake Avila is a Master’s Degree student at the Asian Studies Department of Cornell University. His project will explore “Funding The Fight: Myanmar Resistance Groups & Diaspora Donations”.

For his project, Drake will interview

Katherine Pulaski is a PhD Candidate in Anthropology at University of Wisconsin-Madison. She describes her project entitled “Border Spaces and Familiar Faces: Hope and Resilience Among Burmese Migrants in Mae Sot, Thailand” as follows: “This project focuses on the connections and relationships forged among refugees from Myanmar currently residing in Mae Sot, Thailand. Border spaces, as areas both highly regulated and simultaneously ignored by the state, create zones of exception in which the constant presence of fear, anxiety, and homesickness comingles with hope and resistance. Using ethnographic research methods, this project will trace the connections that form among formal and informal organizations that work to support Burmese refugees.

Katherine will focus on joyful moments that disrupt persistent trauma from war and loss and allow for different ways to navigate life.”

resistance fighters and activists along the Thailand-Myanmar border about their Facebook campaigns to solicit donations from the Myanmar diaspora.

Through these interviews, he hopes to understand what social media strategies resistance groups use and how much

Dr. Michael Barrett currently works at the International Rescue Committee and will work on a project entitled “Navigating Trauma and Resilience in a School Setting: A Gendered Exploration of Karen Migrant Youth Along the Thai-Myanmar Border”.

Ethnic Karen youth, displaced by decades of conflict in southeastern Myanmar, face profound trauma with limited access to culturally informed support. This study addresses a critical gap in understanding how gender shapes resilience among these youth, a factor overlooked in existing trauma recovery research. By engaging 20 male and 20 female Karen students in semi-structured interviews and focus groups, this study explores gender-specific strategies for trauma management. The findings will offer innovative insights for designing trauma-informed and culturally responsive education models, advancing global efforts to support conflict-affected populations, and setting a new standard for addressing trauma through gender-sensitive approaches.

they rely on diaspora donations for sustaining their movements. Comprehending how and when resistance groups receive donations could provide a unique lens for understanding the trajectory of Myanmar’s post-coup conflict and how long it will last.

Dr. Courtney Wittekind is an Assistant Professor at Purdue University. Her project is entitled: “Influencing the Revolution: Social Media and Digital Fundraising in the Myanmar Diaspora”.

Amid a global uptake of new technologies, a contentious debate has asked if social media is contributing to democracy’s decline. While social media was once considered a “liberation technology” able to undermine authoritarian governments, journalists have since detailed platforms’ role in increasing polarization and enabling election interference across the globe. Influencing the Revolution intervenes in this debate by examining the social media fundraising campaigns sustaining Myanmar’s “Spring Revolution.” The project argues that, while transnational fundraising aims to support democratic activism in Myanmar, fundraisers’ digital tactics depend on the very profit-generating mechanisms that make social media susceptible to undemocratic outcomes.

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for Burma Studies Journal of Burma Studies | Center Northern Illinois University NEW ISSUE NOW AVAILABLE! Volume 28, Number 2, 2024 Table of Contents • Special Issue Introduction: PopMyanmar Jane M. Ferguson • Rumblings in Rangoon: Labor, Race, and Nationalism in the Dockworker Riot of May 1930 Alfred Scott and Rory Gill • Chinese Culture in Translation: A Case Study of the Multimedia Dissemination of Four Classic Novels of Chinese Literature in Myanmar Htay Htay Myint • Music as an Element of Contemporary Courtship in Burma/Myanmar Heather MacLachlan • Thingyan Is Here! We Will Fight! Burmese Popular Sounds and Protest Verses for H5K’s “Revolutionary Thingyan Anyeint” Lorenzo Chiarofonte • Afterword Bob Hudson More Info here

Annual Membership Me m b e r s h i p o f t h e Iny a In s t i tu t e i s n o w a v a i l a b l e fo r In s t i tu t i o n s a s w e l l a s In d i v i d u a l s !

Despite Myanmar’s current multidimensional crisis, the Inya Institute continues to operate in Yangon providing educational and training opportunities to Myanmar students, supporting scholarship by Myanmar and International researchers in Myanmar and in third countries, and offering language learning opportunities for those interested in Myanmar’s linguistic diversity.

It is also one of the few libraries currently open to the public in Yangon. Interconnectedness between Myanmar, the U.S., the Myanmar diaspora in the U.S. and elsewhere is more important than ever and the institute is keen to support this value as shown by its activities listed above. You can be part of this so please consider becoming a member of the Inya Institute!

Contact us at: contact@inyainstitute.org INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

I NDIVIDUAL MEMBERSHIP

Any recognized academic or educational institution in the United States or Canada may become an Institutional Member of the institute. If a representative of an institutional member chooses to send a delegate to serve on the board of directors, he/she has an opportunity to shape the institute’s programs and activities.

Anyone may become an Individual Member of the institute, upon application and acceptance by the institute.

Benefits: (1) Inclusion in the institute’s listserv of those institutions and individuals receiving the quarterly’s newsletter; (2) Invitation to join online events, including conferences or webinars, organized by the institute; (3) Reduced fees for the language learning opportunities developed by the institute.

Other benefits include: (1) Recognition of institutional member status in the institute’s quarterly newsletter; (2) Publishing of members’ scholarly events in the institute’s quarterly newsletter; (3) Invitation to join online events, including conferences and webinars, organized by the institute.

Annual institutional membership dues are $400.

Annual individual membership dues are $25.

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Upcoming Events across the U.S. and beyond February Events 1. A Shattered Country: Burma/Myanmar Four Years After the 2021 Military Coup d’Etat Location: Thomson Hall (THO),

University of Washington

Date: Feb. 4, 3:30-5:00 PM (U.S. PT) Speaker: Mary Callahan In February 2021, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing led a military coup that ousted Myanmar’s democratically elected government, headed by State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, whose party had won a historic landslide in the November 2020 elections. Since late 2023, the Myanmar military has suffered one unprecedented battlefield humiliation after another, as it faces the nationwide uprising of hundreds of armed, anti-state groups committed to a revolution to remove the army from political power for the first time in history.

More info here.

This talk will present Yi Li’s investigations on post-war Sino-Burmese cultural dynamics and collective identities, both in and beyond Myanmar. With hindsight, it is evident that this community was acutely aware of its precarious position in a country that categorically prioritised its dominant (Bamar) ethnicity. This cultural endeavour coincided with the 1962 military coup and the anti-Chinese riot of June 1967, the latter of which abruptly yet effectively ended these communal efforts on the ground.

More info here.

Conference Event in October

16th International Burma Studies Conference: Dealing with Legacies in Burma

2. The Impacts of Political Conflicts on Education in Myanmar since the 2021 Military Coup

Location: Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois Date: Oct. 3-5, 2025 The Center for Burma Studies at Northern Illinois University, the Burma Studies Foundation and the Burma Studies Group invite scholars and students to examine intertwined memories, legacies, and histories of interaction between and throughout the different regions of Burma/Myanmar.

We accept submissions in a variety of formats including organized panels, roundtables, workshops, book talks, film launches, poetry, and performances.

Apart from individual papers, we accept other presentation formats to be given in any language in relation to Burma/Myanmar (but titles and abstracts should be submitted in English or Burmese).

We ‌also want to invite members of the diaspora and Burmese Americans to share the knowledge and practices of their communities and civic society organizations. Participants who need a visa to attend the conference will receive early notification of acceptance to help in the visa processing. Please fill in the “visa section” in the submission form.

More Info here.

Location: Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois Date: Feb. 14, 2025 at 12 PM to 1 PM (U.S. CT) Speaker: Saw Yu May More info here.

Zoom registration here.

March Events 1. The Sino-Burmese Community in Post-War Myanmar

Location: SOAS University of London Date: Mar. 3 , 2025 at 5:00 PM to 6:30 PM (U.K. Time) Speaker: Yi Li After the independence of Myanmar in 1948, a group of Sino-Burmese men of letters’ collectively sought to document and reflect upon their shared past during a period marked by the regional Cold War, national reconstruction, and social realignment in early post-war Myanmar. Growing up in trilingual (Chinese, English and Burmese) pre-war Burma, and often of mixed ancestry, they were self-tasked to rebuild their war-torn community through their writings.

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New Books On Myanmar under military surveillance. A closer look reveals how politics is enacted at distance with the state. Calibrated Engagement weaves together ethnography and history to chronicle the transformation of rural politics in Anya, the dry lands of central Myanmar.

The book presents situations as varied as local elections, inheritance transmissions, land conflicts and ceremonies, to show that politics is about how people calibrate the way they engage with each other.

Crimes in Archival Form: Human Rights, Fact Production, and Myanmar

Citizenship and Genocide Cards, IDs, Statelessness and Rohingya Ken MacLean Resistance in Myanmar University of California Press, 2022 Natalie Brinham Crimes in Archival Form explores the Routledge, 2024 many ways in which human rights “facts” This book draws on Rohingya oral histories are produced rather than found. Using and narratives about Myanmar’s genocide Myanmar as his case study, Ken MacLean and ID schemes to critique prevailing interexamines the fact-finding practices of a national approaches to legal identities and human rights group, two cross-border statelessness. By centring the narratives of humanitarian agencies, an international survivors of state crimes, collected in the law clinic, and a global NGO-led campaign. aftermath of the 2017 genocidal violence, Foregrounding fact-finding, in critical yet The Evolution of Economic Reforms this book examines the multiple uses of constructive ways, prompts long overdue state-issued ID cards and registration across Myanmar’s Administrations conversations about the possibilities and documents in producing statelessness and Winston Set Aung limits of human rights documentation as a facilitating genocide. In doing so, it chalISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, 2024 mode of truth-seeking. Such conversations lenges some of the international solutions Myanmar’s economic trajectory has shifted are particularly urgent in an era when the put forward to resolve statelessness. across various governmental regimes, tranperpetrators of large-scale human rights Rohingya narratives disrupt a simple sitioning from socialist to democratic sysviolations exploit misinformation, weaplinear understanding of documenting legal tems and from planned to market economy onize disinformation, and employ outright identity that marginalises experiences of structures. falsehoods, including deepfakes, to underthese processes. The richly layered acThe economic policies implemented by mine the credibility of those who docucounts of the effects of citizenship laws successive governments often lacked coherment abuses and demand accountability in and registration processes on the lives ence and were characterized by ad hoc the court of public opinion and in courts of Rohingya problematise the ways in measures aimed at short-term solutions of law. MacLean compels practitioners which international actors have endorsed rather than addressing underlying issues. and scholars alike to be more transparent state ID schemes and by-passed state-led Policymakers since 1989 have endeavored about how human rights “fact” production persecution of the group. This book will be to guide Myanmar towards a marketworks, why it is important, and when its valuable for scholars studying global crimioriented economy, characterized by what use should prompt concern. nology, state crime, development studies, could be termed the “Burmese/Myanmar

refugee and migration studies, statelessWay to Market Economy”, which includes

ness and nationality, citizenship studies, significant restrictions and controls.

and genocide studies.

Both the military-backed Union Solidarity

Development Party (USDP) and civilian led National League for Democracy (NLD) administrations made significant efforts to enhance liberalization and strengthen market economic principles, despite multidimensional challenges including inadequate capacities for policy formulation and over-reliance on past domestic experiences rather than international lessons.

Calibrated Engagement: All these reforms and economic pillars, Chronicles of Local Politics in the established through intellect and hard Heartland of Myanmar work to ensure liberalization and a market Stéphen Huard economy, collapsed under the State AdBerghahn Books, 2024 ministration Council regime following the For decades, the heartland of Myanmar military coup of 1 February 2021. has been configured as a pacified space 16