Ethnic Minority Women, Diversity, and Informal Participation in Peacebuilding in Myanmar

Abstract

Myanmar is in the midst of a complex peace process following nearly 70 years of civil conflict that has left the country severely underdeveloped. Despite the presence of influential women’s organisations that attend to everyday needs as well as larger political projects, women are not well represented in the peace process. This article uses qualitative data to examine the influence that women do have on the peace process, albeit informally. Findings show that although women are not making it into peace negotiations in Myanmar, nevertheless they are key players in peacebuilding because of their civil society activism, organised through ethnic women’s organisations, which places them around the table, if not at the table. The paper concludes that women’s activism does have an effect on peacebuilding and that a shift in perspective is required to recognise their contributions.

Keywords:

• gender
• peace
• development
• Myanmar/Burma
• grassroots activism

Acknowledgements

I’d like to thank The Women’s Studies Center at Chiang Mai University and the Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington for their support. Financial contributions from Northeastern University and the Hong Liu Asian Studies Fund facilitated fieldwork. I owe a debt of gratitude to my interpreters without whom this work would have been impossible. Finally, and most importantly, I’d like to thank those who participated in this research for sharing their time, knowledge, and experiences, with special thanks to Burma Link and the Kachin Women’s Association Thailand.

Notes

1 Mra Raza Linn is an ethnic Rakhine woman, who has been an active participant in formal peace talks, in part because of her past military experience.

2 This is disputed. For discussion see Ferguson (2015).

3 Though called the ‘Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement’ (NCA), the NCA has been criticised for failing to be, in fact, ‘nationwide’ by refusing to recognise or engage in dialogue with several ethnic armed groups and has been accompanied by increased hostilities between some of the ethnic groups and the Burmese military (Saw Tun Lin 2017). www.karennews.org

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mollie Pepper

MOLLIE PEPPER is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Northeastern University and holds an MA in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. Her dissertation work examines ethnic minority women’s organisations in Burma’s ongoing transition to peace and democracy. Previous work experience in poverty alleviation, humanitarian assistance, and women’s empowerment in Bolivia and Thailand informs her research.