15 - Engendering Development in Myanmar: Women's Struggle for San, Si, Sa

Summary

On every available index, Myanmar is still one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world, and it has been one of the most conflictridden countries in modern times. Women represent more than half the population of approximately of 59.13 million. This means the active participation of womenfolk in social, economic, and political life is crucial for the country's sustainable economic development and peace initiatives— and, inevitably, that gender is an important matter, particularly in the current historical transformative reforms under the current President U Thein Sein. Yet to date the prospects for peace and alleviation of poverty in Myanmar have not often been analysed from a gender perspective. Whilst women are overrepresented among the poorest of the poor, they are underrepresented in political administration, privileged positions, and decision-making, and have unequal access to power and resources. Like women in many other countries, they are the sole bearers of gender-specific responsibilities as the primary producers of food and caretakers of the family. They also have an extra burden due to lack of infrastructure and modern technologies, such as domestic equipment or a regular supply of electricity. What is more, over half a century of militarization has created a gender hierarchy, and patriarchal ideologies create structural inequality between women and men.

This ethnographically-informed paper is drawn from multi-sited fieldwork carried out from 2009 to 2012 in Myanmar, Thailand, and Australia, and includes interviews, life stories, and surveys. It will focus on how militarization has affected the power and status of women, and how women suffer in their everyday lives from gendered discrimination and widespread poverty. I discuss how women in Myanmar struggle daily for subsistence—san, si and sa, which is to say, rice, oil and salt. I associate their dire poverty with both gender inequality and failed development, and discuss how patriarchal ideologies, policies, inflation, lack of modern technology, collapsing infrastructure, and inadequate health care impact on the lives of women.

MILITARIZATION, POVERTY AND GENDER

Militarization since 1962 has made Myanmar into one of the world's biggest producers of refugees, trafficked persons, forced migrants, and child labourers. It is among the poorest nations, even by regional standards (Lintner 1990; Fink 2001). In 1988, under the pressure of nation-wide protests led by students, and after twenty-six years in power, General Ne Win was forced to admit that his “Burmese way to socialism” was a failure (Lintner 1990).