Reclaiming the Future: Waiting, Resistance, and Expectations in Myanmar’s Post-Coup University Boycotts

Abstract

University boycotts have been used by students to champion change and challenge oppressive systems around the world. This article focuses on the boycotts carried out by university students in Myanmar to support teachers participating in the civil disobedience movement sparked by the military coup of February 2021. Based on 15 months of remote research in 2021–2022, this article demonstrates that by putting their formal education on hold, university students have employed “waiting” as a form of resistance against the military regime. It also shows that university students’ commitment to resistance through boycotts threatens to compromise their academic progress and career prospects, prompting some to reconsider their tactics in the face of limited international support and prolonged military rule. In so doing, this article highlights how waiting can be a widely shared yet isolating experience, and adds to the understanding of how resistance evolves in response to the uncertainties and challenges imposed by the military state, examining individual decisions within the broader context of collective resistance by university students in Myanmar.

Key Words:

• Boycott
• Education
• Myanmar
• Resistance
• Student Activism
• Waiting

Acknowledgements

I sincerely appreciate the feedback provided by the journal’s editor and anonymous reviewers. I extend my special thanks to the students who participated in the interviews for this article. I would also like to thank Elizabeth Rhoads, Shona Loong, Elliott Prasse-Freeman, and Ben Jones for their comments and encouragement.

Disclosure Statement

The author reports there are no competing interests to declare.

Notes

1 While this article primarily examines university students’ involvement in the CDM, it reinforces existing discussions that critique the problematic framing of the resistance movement as a generational phenomenon, which overlooks the contributions of other groups in the movement. For example, see Ko Maung (2021) for a discussion of workers’ participation in the resistance.

2 The junta changed the country’s official English name from “Burma” to “Myanmar” in 1989. This article uses “Burma” and “Rangoon” until 1989, then “Myanmar” and “Yangon” after.

3 These portrayals tend to depict students as the opposite of the military, which also presents itself as the protector of the union. However, this binary overlooks the contributions of other social groups to activism in Myanmar.

4 Ethics approval was received by City University of Hong Kong (HU-STA-00000579).

5 Campbell and Prasse-Freeman (2022) argue that not every Burman has equally benefited from “Burman-ness,” as some are excluded based on their class backwardness. Some of the interviewees were members of ethnic minority groups in Myanmar, but they had either moved to Bamar-dominated areas when they were young or completed most of their schooling outside of their hometowns.

6 Kyal Sin Angel’s death was one of the most widely reported casualties during the initial protests that followed the coup. Myanmar Witness (2022) provides a detailed report on the death and its implications.

7 The COVID-19 pandemic led all universities to once again close in August 2021 (Khaing Phyu Htut, Lall, and Howson 2022, 15). Whereas elementary and high schools reopened in November 2021, universities and colleges remained closed until May 2022.

8 In June 2022, the SAC claimed that 5.2 million students had enrolled in its schools for the 2022–2023 academic year, which was more than five times higher than the number from the previous year. While there were no official data available on university enrolment, local media have reported that enrolment was low among university students (Mizzima, May 12, 2022).

9 However, power blackouts, internet shutdowns by the junta, and unreliable connectivity often hinder students’ self-learning progress by impeding consistent access to online resources.