Tracing the History of Myanmar’s Rights and Democracy Movement Part 1: National Perspectives
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Why are there so few comprehensive histories of the Myanmar rights and democracy movement—one of the most remarkable post-Cold War movements—either in Burmese or English?
One reason could be that it would involve a massive list of organizations and individuals, and just cataloguing them all would probably be a book-length enterprise. The movement consists of an eclectic assortment of politicians, civil society activists and their international supporters, working on an assortment of women’s rights, human rights, the environment, and legal issues dedicated to overturning military rule and establishing civilian-led federal democracy since 1988. How would historians approach such an enormous challenge?
An eclectic movement
What are some of the groups involved? Myanmar’s independent media, at least in the early stages of the movement, should arguably be considered a force of their own, including The Irrawaddy and Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB). The labor movement, too, is worthy of its own distinct historical study, but intertwined in many parts of the democracy movement. One of the most successful components must be the women’s rights movement, from the Women’s League of Burma (WLB) to all the various ethnic women’s groups like the Karen Women’s Organization (KWO) and many others.
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