7 - Sidelined or Reinventing Themselves? Exiled Activists in Myanmar's Political Reforms

Summary

Myanmar's tumultuous post-colonial history has been characterized by decades of direct and indirect military rule and corresponding political mobilizations that have ranged from armed ethnic and ideological insurgencies to mass protests, student movements, and non-violent pro-democracy uprisings. The nationalization and mismanagement of the economy, the militarization of the state, political surveillance and oppression, and the closure of universities are all factors that have triggered the flight from Burma of millions of Burmese. Several main waves of exit can be distinguished, following major political events—(1) the 1962 military coup; (2) the installation of direct rule by the Burma Socialist Programme Party in 1974 and the U Thant funeral crisis; (3) the 1988 mass uprisings; and (4) the 2007 “Saffron Revolution” protests, respectively. The largest exodus occurred in the period from late 1988 until after the 1990 elections (held on 27 May 1990), when the military government indefinitely delayed the transfer of power to the elected opposition. The Burmese diaspora that formed as the result of these movements was comprised mostly of people who had fled repression and conflict, but it also included individuals who had left Burma for educational and professional purposes.

As a prerequisite to studying the nature of Burmese political activism and underlying domestic, transnational and international linkages, the concepts of “diaspora” and “political exiles” need to be revisited. The central defining feature of a diaspora consists in a shared identity that unites people living dispersed in transnational spaces (Soekefield 2006, p. 280) and in transnational “imagined communities” (Anderson 2001).

Political exiles “engage in political activity, directed against the policies of a home regime, the home regime itself or the political system as a whole, and aimed at creating circumstances favourable to their return” (Shain 1989, p. 15). Silenced at home, exiles exit in order to voice their discontent, but also struggle to return home, at least initially (Ma 1993). The central position of threat in the literature on exile and diaspora is paralleled in social movement theory by threat, opportunity, and the cost of contention (Goldstone and Tilly 2004, p. 179f).

Compared to classical diasporas, the Burmese diaspora of up to four millions in Thailand and smaller communities across the rest of the world is relatively large.