The state of Myanmar youth activism since the 2021 military coup
Maaike Matelski, Assistant Professor in Anthropology at VU Amsterdam and author of the 2024 book Contested Civil Society in Myanmar, reflects on her recent discussions with youth activists from Myanmar resisting the 2021 military coup. She discusses their agency and ideologies in the face of severe domestic challenges and waning international support.
You can join online via Zoom or in person in the IIAS conference room from 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Amsterdam Time/CEST.
All are welcome; registration is required due to limited seating and to receive the Zoom link.
The Lecture
Myanmar has a long history of military repression and an even longer history of resistance to authoritarian rule. From anti-colonial struggles to the latest Spring Revolution, different generations of activists have risen against unelected forces’ claims to power. Compared to previous waves of activism against military rule, the Spring Revolution that emerged after the coup of February 2021 is characterized by a broader group of participants, with different societal groups and ethnicities united against a common enemy. It has also been characterized by a militarization of resistance beyond the ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) that operate mostly in the border areas. Since the latest coup, Myanmar youth in particular are more determined than ever not to revert back to the situation before the political transition period of the 2010s, during which they experienced more liberties and opportunities. Facing an increasingly violent military response, many youth have resorted to armed resistance, with former student activists now fighting in a mosaic of armed groups under different banners and with sometimes diverging goals. Based on interviews with young activists conducted in the last six months, this presentation will sketch the dilemmas facing Myanmar youth who have been deprived of their newly found opportunities while continuing to be subdued by politically vocal older generations, yet remain determined to continue their struggle. What options for agency remain available to them in the face of waning international support, lack of socio-economic opportunities and the threat of forced conscription, and what ideologies do they adhere to in their resistance efforts?
The Speaker
Maaike Matelski is Assistant Professor in the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Her research focuses on issues of voice, representation and legitimacy within civil society and rights-based advocacy. She has conducted ethnographic research in Myanmar, Kenya, Ghana and the Netherlands, and is the author of the book Contested Civil Society in Myanmar: Local Change and Global Recognition (Bristol University Press, 2024). She currently leads the research project Ethnographic Impact for Social Justice, in which she focuses on Myanmar activism since the 2021 military coup in collaboration with Myanmar researchers and activists.
Registration (required)
You can join online via Zoom or in person in the IIAS conference room from 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Amsterdam Time/CEST.
All are welcome; registration is required due to limited seating and to receive the Zoom link.