Institutions, Identity, and Intergroup Conflict in Myanmar

Session Submission Type: Full Paper Panel

Session Description

Existing literature finds a robust relationship between political institutions, identity and conflict. Institutions help construct national identities, determine the salience of some identities over others in politics, and facilitate intergroup bargaining. The exclusion of groups from institutions based on identity is one of the leading causes of violent conflict. These papers re-examine the relationships between institutions, identity, and conflict in the case of Myanmar, a country where ethnic and civil-military conflict have persisted since independence, ethnic identity is highly politically salient, and transformative political change may be on the horizon. The result is an examination of under-examined institutions and outcomes in the literature on ethnic politics, such as educational institutions and citizenship policies, as well as the testing of longstanding theories in an important case.

Ryan delves into colonial era Myanmar and Malaysia to examine how different relations between colonists and native traditional institutions in each country shaped independence leaders’ policy choices towards foreign nationals living within the country’s territory at independence. Jap and Chew use an online survey experiment to examine the reinforcing effects of institutions inextricably tied to ethnic identity on ethnic politics that can lead to the hardening of ethnic boundaries, even in the case where these institutions were designed to manage diversity and conflict in the first place. Courtin’s process tracing of the events that led to the 1948 onset of armed conflict between the Karen and the Government of Burma reveals that it was the contested nature of state institutions at independence that best explain the onset. Finally, Htet Thiha Zaw uses a novel panel dataset on education and economic development in contemporary Myanmar to demonstrate the conditional effects of educational institutions on anti-regime resistance in post-2021 Myanmar–high levels of education reduce the likelihood of anti-regime resistance, but only when economic returns are high.

The current post-coup political crisis in Myanmar is a critical time to take stock of historical and contemporary institutions and their relationship to ethnic identity and conflict in the country. Despite the ongoing violence and humanitarian crisis unleashed by the Myanmar military coup in 2021, the political crisis has the potential to bring ethnic groups with deep histories of mutual distrust together to map out a more inclusive and democratic state. Institutional design is a critical feature of this process. These papers build knowledge about a wide range of historical and contemporary institutions in Myanmar–colonial era institutions, federalism, contested institutions, and educational institutions–that will shape future institutional design and inter-ethnic relations.

Sub Unit

• Related Groups / Southeast Asian Politics

Individual Presentations

• Institutions, Identity, and Inter-Ethnic Relations: Evidence from Myanmar - Jangai Jap, University of Georgia; Isabel Chew, University of British Columbia

• Security Dilemma and Ethnic Conflicts: Explaining Myanmar’s 1948 Conflict Onset - Constant Courtin, University of British Columbia

• Colonial Rule and Post-independence Nation Building in Myanmar and Malaysia - Megan Ryan, University of Michigan

• When Indoctrination Fails: Education and State Consolidation in Myanmar - Htet Thiha Zaw, University of British Columbia

Chair

• Meredith L. Weiss SUNY, University at Albany

Discussants

• Ardeth Maung Thawnghmung University of Massachusetts - Lowell

• Joel Sawat Selway Brigham Young University