Category: Opinion
The latest opinion from those committed to making our region fair, just and democratic.
State-Think and the Problem with University Education in Post-Colonial Societies
This closing up of genuine intellectual counter-spaces marks the critical moment when universities go from saying this is what the state wishes to teach you, to this is what the state limits your understanding to be. And they cancel the contracts for books, reject inviting talks by scholars, and ignore work that shows a different way to view one or another of the societies in the region.
FORSEA Co-founder offers his no-hold-barred view of the Myanmar terrorist regime renaming itself “Caretaker”
The coup regime's latest move to reinvent itself as "Caretaker" government is the vicious repeat of the pattern of deceiving Myanmar public which began with General Ne Win intervening in electoral politics in September 1958 – under the same "Caretaker Government" label.
The Misuses of Histories and Historiography by the state in Myanmar: The Case of Rakhine and Rohingya
Some look to find solutions in holding Myanmar to account through international law regarding what the Myanmar military has done to Rohingya. That is what they can do. I am not a lawyer, but a historian. When I look at Myanmar, I am trying to unravel the ways in which religious haters in the country misuse history to legitimate what they do.
Myanmar Coup Regime’s Handling of COVID-19: Is it Genocidal?
it is conceivable that the Myanmar terrorist regime of the SAC may be genocidally minded in its approach in tackling COVID-19 within the military and its sub-social system, while deliberately putting at risk the lives of millions of anti-military Burmese of all ethnic and religious backgrounds.
Josef Silverstein, The Death of A Fine American Scholar who “Gave Back” to His Subjects
Joe was one of the very few western scholars who made compassionate efforts to give back to the people or “the subjects” whom they study. This last quality alone of Joe, the scholar, will etch his name in my memory, and the memories of those, who had the great fortune of knowing him as a friend, a colleague, a fellow scholar, a teacher, and a comrade in the people’s struggle...
Myanmar anti-coup opposition’s Happy Birthday Parties for Aung San Suu Kyi do not augur well for the country’s future
The mass hysteria around Aung San Suu Kyi’s birthday is the clearest indication of deeply entrenched cultist neo-totalitarian thoughts, mental habits and political behaviour among Ms Suu Kyi’s populist base. It confirms how indifferent this base is to the democratic ethos, international law, and normative principles of human rights.
Engaging with State Power, without Losing Principles or Your Head · Part 3
Those of us Burmese who have made overthrowing our country’s well-entrenched military dictatorship, our business – or Doe-Ayay, as we say in Burma in specific reference to protests against any Oppressive Order – do not look to the United Nations or the European Union, let alone the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), for help.
Engaging with State Power, without Losing Principles or Head · Part 2
"In those years, the Burma policy world was caught in the emerging Orwellian duality of 'Sanctions Bad, Engagement Good' of international debates which took place with respective proponents talking past one another, pursuing their own concealed interests." Read Essay 2 from Maung Zarni in the new FORSEA Democratic Struggle Series.
How Racist is your Engagement with Burma Studies?
If you are genuinely interested in shaping a new field so that it is balanced and fully engages with the Burmese, all Burmese, both men and women, then ask yourself, how racist is YOUR engagement with the field. If you are not interested in this question, you are part of the reason structural racism thrives in the academy.
Engaging with State Power, without Losing Principles or Head · Part 1
"The Burmese military regime remained, as intransigent towards any compromise with the democratic opposition, as it was repressive, towards Burmese dissidents." Read Essay 1 from Maung Zarni in the new FORSEA Democratic Struggle Series.