Burma (Myanmar) 2010-2017: A country in transition?
Series : Asia(s)
Subject : Humanities and social sciences
20 €
Presentation
In 2011, after over five decades of military rule in Burma (Myanmar), the military junta officially stepped down in favour of a “semi-civilian” government. Its president, former general Thein Sein, embarked upon a series of democratic reforms. The general elections of 2015 established political changeover, as Aung San Suu Kyi, emblematic leader of the opposition, came into power. But what were the true limitations, extent and significance of this seemingly dramatic transformation?
This collection of essays adopts a fresh approach that differs from that of previous (primarily anglophone) scholarship on the political transition, which has too often focused solely on the process of democratization. Rather, it offers a broader interpretation of the changes in Burmese society that unfolded between 2010 and 2017, through the perspectives of French anthropologists, geographers and historians. Long-time specialists and young researchers have contributed valuable insight from their respective disciplinary fields through field analysis, cross-disciplinary approaches and contextual viewpoints, in order to explain the transition and shed light on the similarities and discontinuities between the past and the present, between the Burma of yesterday and of tomorrow. Their original analysis provides the keys to understanding the Burmese reform process, in both cities and rural areas, at the centre and on the outskirts, and from Burmese and international points of view. The essays also bring to light the interconnections between the rise of Buddhist nationalism, inter-community violence and the Rohingya humanitarian crisis.
Editor
Aurore Candier, a historian by training, is a research fellow at the Centre for Southeast Asian Studies (CASE) and the Institute for Research on Contemporary Southeast Asia (IRASEC). She lived in Burma for over twenty years. At the crossroads of conceptual history, global history and the history of colonialism, her research examines the evolution of the knowledge and concepts of Burmese elites, particularly in contact with other languages and cultures, in modern and contemporary Burma.
150 pages
16 x 24 cm
Publication: 08/10/2020
ISBN: 9782858313648