Reworking Bandung internationalism: decolonization and postcolonial futurism in Burma/Myanmar

ABSTRACT

This commentary examines how futurity has been imagined across politics and political economy in Burma/Myanmar. Three areas are discussed: the revolutionary horizons of anti-colonialists, who combined Buddhist and Marxist ideas of historical progress; the developmental socialism of the early independence area, with its industrial telos and modernist commitments; and a contemporary development project in southern Myanmar, where processes of dispossession are troubling earlier temporal imaginaries. I suggest that a vision of postcolonial transformation coheres across anti-colonial and early independence claims to futurity. This temporal imaginary, which I call postcolonial futurism, promises transitions from farm to factory, peasant to the proletariat, and precapital to capital. This imaginary resonated widely. Today, however, scholars of South and Southeast Asia argue that modernist promises of transition now lack empirical and political purchase amid ongoing dispossession and trends towards low-wage, informal labour. Yet in the wake of postcolonial futurism, responses to dispossession are creating novel political possibilities. Responding to Kuan-Hsing Chen’s call to rework Bandung internationalism in the present, I consider how struggles over dispossession today indicate both openings and limits for the making of new political futures. Integrating Glen Coulthard’s work on colonialism and dispossession, I argue that decolonizing subjectivity is central to this process.     

国籍·民族主义·"社会主义":战后缅甸华侨国籍个案研究

吴努时期,缅甸华侨中存在国籍(选择)问题的主要是第一代移民、一代和少数二代以上的侨生.这一时期这部分华侨入籍并不积极,入籍比例较低.这主要是缅甸民族主义政策对华侨的影响,吴努政府对"社会主义"的理解和实践,中缅关系的亲善,中国对缅甸华侨的影响等多种因素综合作用的结果.     

冷战后缅甸的对华政策

在冷战期间,中国对缅甸采取党对党、政府对政府的双重政策。１９８８ 年缅甸发生政治动乱后,中国终止了对缅共的支持。１９８９ 年４ 月缅共因发生内讧而解体,年迈的领导人被遗弃,这一中缅关系中的敏感问题不复存在。鉴于共同的世界观,中缅双方高层人员往来频繁。双方高级将领也经常互访,以加强缅军与中国人民解放军之间的人事关系     

Militarization in Burma's ethnic states: causes and consequences

Despite a dramatic reduction in fighting in Burma's ethnic states, militarization has increased as the regime seeks to extend its sovereignty and capitalize on economic opportunities. Rather than ensuring civilians' safety, militarization has exposed more civilians to human security threats, with serious consequences for families and communities. Abuses are likely to continue as long as the regime under-finances its army, disregards disciplinary problems, and receives diplomatic cover from its foreign economic partners. While civilians have sought to manage these threats as best they can, their degree of agency is, in most cases, highly constrained, and women have been particularly affected. Nevertheless, the development of community-based organizations which make use of porous borders to expose abuses and provide assistance to distressed communities constitutes an important, if limited, development.     

BUDDING INDO-MYANMAR RELATIONS: RISING BUT LIMITED CHALLENGES FOR CHINA

There is a big gap on the study of Indo-Myanmar relations between India and China, in which the Indian experts are mainly concerned about the serious consequences of the China factor, while few Chinese scholars focus on Indo-Myanmar relations. This article, therefore, looks into the post-Cold War Indo-Myanmar relations from a Chinese perspective, so as to fill the research gap. It argues that India's influence upon Sino-Myanmar relations is actually marginal, though it has established a budding relationship with Myanmar through deepening political engagement, naval cooperation and physical connectivity with the country. The main reason is that India lacks full capability to develop the bilateral relations with Myanmar and thus compete fully with China. Additionally, the suspicion and resistance from the Burmese elite and local communities constitutes another major obstacle to the further engagement between India and Myanmar. Naypyidaw, notwithstanding its efforts to advance Indo-Myanmar relations, would prefer to gain benefits from both China and India.     

缅甸:2013 年发展回顾与 2014 年展望

2013年,缅甸政府重点提高治理能力,清除腐败,增加透明度,取得了一定成效.昂山素季积极推动修宪,准备参加2015年大选;西方国家对缅甸的投资有所增加.但缅甸政府仍然面临着民族和解、教派冲突和修改宪法等关键问题的挑战.     

Laying Tracks for Peace

正Solution to the South China Sea issue is ready to work on August 8-10,the 47th ASEAN(Association of Southeast Asian Nations)Foreign Ministers Meeting(AMM)and its related gatherings brought together top diplomats from 27 nations,including 10 ASEAN member states and their Dialogue Partner countries,in Nay Pyi Taw,capital of Myanmar,to discuss political,security and development issues that have     

Yue Xiang: Peacock Dance King

Yue Xiang was born in Ruili in Southwest China’s Yunnan Province in 1948.He fell in love with the peacock dance,a popular folk dance of the Dai ethnic group,at an early age and later studied it under the tutelage of Gensabu and Mao Xiang,well-known masters of the style.By tirelessly observing the living habits of this magnif icent bird and imitating their movements,Yue Xiang has become a famous folk artisan in the China-Myanmar border areas,promoting the Dai heritage.He has won prizes in dance competitions held by China’s Ministry of Culture and attended the National Traditional Games of Ethnic Minorities twice to perform a peacock boxing display.Moreover,he has been invited to perform around China and abroad.In 2007,Yue Xiang was named a custodian of the national intangible cultural heritage of the peacock dance.     

缅甸军人与政治关系的现状与趋势

在从1948年1月4日独立至今的68年间,缅甸军人直接掌权或由其扶持的政党执政的时间共约56年。2015年11月8日,昂山素季领导的全国民主联盟在大选中获得压倒性胜利,军方扶持的联邦巩固与发展党惨败。2016年3月30日,民盟资深成员吴廷觉总统领导的新政府宣誓就职,取代退役将领吴登盛领导的巩发党政府。缅甸军人长期直接或间接执政的历史暂告结束,这是缅甸民主转型的里程碑。但依照缅甸宪法,军人仍保留诸多权力,是与民盟政府并立的另一权力中心,军人与民盟政府关系好坏将是影响缅甸政治发展的关键因素。缅甸军人完全退出政治尚需时日,不排除其再度干政的可能。     

From Rebels to Rulers: The Challenges of Transition for Non-state Armed Groups in Mindanao and Myanmar

This article presents a critical comparison of the ongoing peace processes in the southern Philippines and Myanmar (Burma). It does so by examining two key armed groups: the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on Mindanao, and the Karen National Union (KNU) in Myanmar. We identify common elements that help to explain the relative – albeit incomplete – success of these two groups in navigating their respective peace processes. The MILF and KNU are ethnonationalist armed groups struggling for self-determination against states that are experienced by ethnic minority communities as culturally alien, and economically and politically dominant. Both conflict actors are characterized by complex combinations of “greed” and “grievance” factors but nevertheless enjoy significant (albeit contested) political legitimacy among the communities they seek to represent. We explore the complex relationships between armed ethnic groups, conflict-affected communities, and civil society actors. We argue that engagement with civil society is a key element of success in the Mindanao peace process, which could be replicated in Myanmar. We examine the roles and changing nature of the state in the Philippines and Myanmar, and contrast the degrees of international involvement, as key variables in these peace processes. We observe that negotiations of comprehensive peace settlements are threatened by “the tyranny of elections” in Myanmar (2015) and the Philippines (2016), and observe the importance of including national parliaments in peace processes in a timely manner. The peace process between Manila and the MILF represents a rare example of a Muslim minority pursuing its political objectives through structured dialogue. The article focuses on the challenges faced by armed groups moving from insurgency to reinvent themselves as credible political actors and governance authorities. Our analysis draws on peace-building literature, specifically the phenomenon of “rebel governance.”