About this episode

Stella Naw and Dustin Barter discuss the reshaping of governance in Myanmar by ethnic resistance organizations in the wake of the 2021 coup.

Episode #567: Stella Naw, a Kachin academic activist focused on indigenous and decolonial peacebuilding, is joined by Dustin Barter, a senior research fellow at the Humanitarian Policy Group at ODI, and together they argue that in the turmoil since the 2021 coup, ethnic resistance organizations (EROs) and their civil society partners are reshaping governance and legitimacy from the ground up, even as international recognition and aid decline. Stella traces the problem to Myanmar’s founding. Before 1948, indigenous communities governed themselves. The creation of the Union imposed internal and external borders that divided communities and ignored longstanding political realities. After the military consolidated power in the 1960s, governance became increasingly centralized, and divide-and-conquer tactics deepened ethnic and religious fragmentation. In response to state neglect, EROs began to build parallel systems—schools, clinics, land administration, and local dispute resolution—in areas beyond effective central control. During the 2010s political opening, international engagement centered on Naypyidaw and Yangon. The Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA), a centralized peace…

People in this episode

Guests: Stella Naw, Dustin Barter

Topics covered

• ethnic resistance
• governance
• decolonial peacebuilding
• Myanmar politics
• civil society
• indigenous communities

Keywords

• Myanmar
• ethnic resistance organizations
• governance
• decolonial peacebuilding
• 2021 coup
• Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement
• civil society

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Humanitarian Policy Group, ODI

Places: Myanmar

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