Conflict in Myanmar has escalated to new highs as Myanmar’s shadow government has declared civil war against the military junta and the economy nears collapse in the wake of a deadly COVID-19 surge. The death toll rises daily, close to a thousand civilians have already lost their lives and over 7,000 political prisoners have been recently jailed. READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT NEWSWEEK HERE.
Contributions are invited from early career scholars whose work focusses on South and Southeast Asian borderlands (research from borderlands of India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Thailand are particularly welcomed) for consideration to be published in a special journal issue about fieldwork research ethics.
Research in these contexts can present unique ethical hurdles for researchers and we are keen to hear about the diverse ways new scholars have navigated these challenges.
We encourage contributions from scholars from any field who has undertaken fieldwork research in South and Southeast Asia’s borderlands or nearby areas. Submissions from scholars from or based in South or Southeast Asia are especially encouraged.
While the special issue will focus on South and Southeast Asian borderlands, the editors do not envisage an area-specific guide to research ethics but rather hope to use South and Southeast Asian borderlands as an exemplar to highlight how researchers from different scholarly perspectives might undertake ethically sound research in similarly challenging contexts while utilising different ethical approaches.
Contributors will be expected to contribute a working draft paper by 31 October 2021 and participate in an online workshop during December 2021. Complete papers (of 5000-7000 words) will then be required by May 2022 for an expected publication late 2022.
Please submit an article title and abstract of no more than 300 words outlining the article you wish to be considered for this collection by 30 June, 2021, as well as a brief author’s biography (150 words).
Abstract Deadline: 30 June, 2021.
Send any questions and the abstract you wish to be considered to the volume editors, Dr Ronan Lee ronan.lee@qmul.ac.uk and Dr Jenny Hedström Jenny.hedstrom@fhs.se
Last month, a video emerged out of Myanmar of soldiers beating a man before forcing him to crawl along the street like a dog on his hands and knees. It highlighted the disrespect Myanmar’s military, known as the Tatmadaw, routinely display towards civilians and was a chilling reminder of the violence and exploitation that characterised previous periods of military rule. This jarringly discomforting video will have surprised few in Myanmar, confirming what they already know too well about the country’s military. But it gives foreign observers important insight into the mindset of a soldiery who regard civilians as their inferiors and who are prepared to aggressively defend military economic and political privilege. This was far from an isolated example, and sadly, as videos of Myanmar military criminality go, it was fairly tame. READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE.
https://www.abc.net.au/religion/myanmar-on-the-brink-of-becoming-a-failed-state/13315592
Dr Ronan Lee 