Urban development falling into the gutter: sanitation planning and ‘anti-politics’ in Myanmar

Urban development, and particularly the improvement of basic services delivery, is still approached in mostly technical terms by international development actors and municipalities of the Global South. Sanitation planning, for instance, remains the realm of engineers despite decades of evidence that conventional approaches focusing on infrastructure upgrading have failed to tackle socio-environmental challenges. Against this background, this paper explores sanitation planning in Mandalay, the second largest city of Myanmar. Here, the Asian Development Bank and a French consulting firm have seized the opportunity created by the country’s recent opening to embark with the municipality on a multi-million dollar scheme: the Mandalay Urban Services Improvement Project (MUSIP). Drawing upon insights from critical development studies, the paper argues that the MUSIP can be interpreted as an ‘anti-politics machine’ that ignored local needs and proposed disputable solutions to local sanitation challenges. The paper further explores how this machine jeopardised urban development in Mandalay more generally, and was eventually challenged by the municipality. The paper concludes that the case is not unique and illustrates how urban development is today being reshaped throughout Myanmar, while it also shows the continued relevance of the ‘anti-politics’ framework to understand contemporary urban development assistance projects.     

独立前缅甸民族主义精英对国家发展道路的探索

独立前缅甸民族主义精英对缅甸独立后的总体发展道路以及国家的政治制度、经济发展战略和具体政策、宗教与政治关系、民族问题与国家结构、对外政策等重大问题进行了比较全面的探索,在此过程中形成的观点和暴露出的特点对缅甸独立后的现代化进程产生了较为深刻的影响。     

西方国家放宽经济制裁背景下的缅甸经济发展前景

西方国家对缅甸实施长期经济制裁,深刻影响了缅甸的经济发展。2011年3月,缅甸新政府执政以来,采取了一系列政治经济改革举措,得到国际社会普遍认可,也促使西方国家放宽对缅甸的经济制裁。在此背景下,缅甸未来经济发展潜力巨大,但也面临诸多问题和挑战。     

试析我国能源运输战略

马六甲海峡是世界上最危险和最重要的战略要冲之一。专家们认为,它是世界上最容易受到攻击的10大目标之一。控制马六甲海峡是目前美国的主要战略目标,即使可能导致它与该地区的国家甚至和中国发生武装冲突也在所不惜。如果泰国的克拉运河计划最终能够得以实现,一定会给该地区的自由贸易和海运事业带来共同利益。但对中国来说, 必须把缅甸通道和克拉运河区别开来。     

"金三角"禁毒背后的中美泰缅四边关系

早春是罂粟花开的时节.当金三角的罂粟花盛开的时候,小小的金三角却在中南半岛激起了一个不大不小的政治漩涡.为了安抚当地少数民族、巩固边境,缅甸在禁毒中一直采取极为谨慎的姿态;泰国深受缅甸毒品之害,与缅甸还存在领土纠纷,在反毒过程中不得不权衡自己的得失;美国当然重视禁毒,不过对于美国而言,让缅甸现政府倒台或许更重要;中国积极帮助缅甸禁毒,但对于影响边境安宁的迹象却也不得不加以警觉.     

试论缅甸佛教青年协会

通过对缅甸佛教青年协会产生的背景、诞生及其活动的论述和分析,本文认为:缅甸佛教青年协会在缅甸近代历史上具有特殊的历史意义,即它是缅甸历史上第一个具有近代民族主义性质的组织;它对缅甸人民民族主义意识的普遍形成起了重要作用;通过它缅甸人了解和认识了缅甸以外的世界,使缅甸近代民族主义运动在发展之初就与世界的近代民族主义运动,尤其是与亚洲的近代民族主义运动产生了密切的联系.另外,佛教青年协会的性质及其活动使得缅甸近代民族主义运动从诞生的那一刻起就打上了宗教的深深印痕,该会的领导策略和方法也为以后的缅甸近代民族主义运动提供了有益的借鉴.     

缅甸对印度人和孟加拉人的政策

印度人在缅甸社会比其他外侨更不受欢迎。这是由于印度人同缅甸原住民在种族和宗教上的差异很大 ,且印度人很不容易接受缅甸的语言、服装和风土习俗。因此 ,缅甸人叫他们“嘎拉”。值得关注的是 ,由于早期历史上的交往因素 ,缅甸与印度在文化特别是在宗教方面有牢固的关系。在殖民地时代 ,印度人的地位很显著 ,虽然他们排在欧洲人之后 ,位居第二 ,但他们把资金分投到农业、制造业和服务业。 196 2年以来 ,印度人的政治、经济和社会自主权明显下降 ,但自 1988年 9月现军人政府上台后 ,印度人的状况已得到改善。     

Signs of life in Myanmar’s nationwide ceasefire agreement? Finding a way forward

This article focuses on peace-building efforts in Myanmar implemented under the Nation Wide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) in 2013. It assesses the ways in which the recently elected government led by the National League for Democracy (NLD) has dealt with the NCA, and highlights opportunities and challenges. I argue that while the NLD government and Myanmar military remain crucial to the success of peace efforts, implementation of the NCA is impossible without the support of the eight current NCA signatories, in particularly the Karen National Union (KNU). Neglecting the importance of these actors not only provides an incomplete picture of ongoing peace-building efforts, but could also undermine efforts to promote national reconciliation that have thus far focused exclusively on the Myanmar government and the military. These signs of life emanating from the NCA signatories, however, have increasingly been undermined by an official failure to implement the agreement and to adhere to the agreed process and by ongoing hostilities between the military and four of the country’s ethnic armed groups.     

Contextualising and theorising economic development,local business and ethnic cleansing in Myanmar

ABSTRACT

After Myanmar ended military rule in 2011, significant foreign investment arrived to facilitate a profitable transition to an integrated regional economy, and under the promise that foreign actors can help facilitate peaceful long-term development. However, these firms have also tacitly supported an ethnic cleansing committed by the government that most have partnered with or funded. This article builds theory on economic opening, development and conflict, using research from Myanmar to forward three arguments about business actions in fragile, at-risk countries. First, international-led regulatory reform has had little impact on endemic corruption at the micro- or meso-levels, as local elites and international businesses remain the primary beneficiaries. Second, ‘development’ is a contentious topic, defined locally not as broad societal growth but the unjustified picking of winners and losers in society by foreign entities. Third, business ventures are exacerbating ethnic tensions through a liberal peace-building mentality that is unresponsive to either local conflicts or local communities. The article closes by offering three ways that these findings open future research avenues on business engagement as peace-builders and development agents in developing yet fragile states.     

缅甸有现代化进程吗？——兼论第三世界国家现代化进程的起点

现代化是一个从传统农业社会向现代工业社会全面转变的历史过程,不等于工业化。第三世界国家的现代化进程开始于殖民统治时期,部分封建国家的“防御型现代化改革”也可以视为该国现代化进程的启动。第三世界国家政治上的独立和明确的工业化战略的提出只是这些国家现代化历史进程划分不同阶段的标志,而不是现代化的起点。因此,目前经济发展水平较低的缅甸也有一个缓慢但是比较完整的现代化进程。