Webinar: Insurgent Autonomy: The United Wa State Army and Region-making in Highland Myanmar

Date and Time: Feb 7, 2024 from 02:00 AM HST. Sup

Highland autonomy is no longer about the keeping of lowland states at bay, or resisting their encroachment into the hills. It is instead a relational autonomy, maintained through the management of political ties and flows of capital and people into the hills. In the highland Wa Region of Myanmar, on the Chinese border, the 30,000-strong United Wa State Army has engaged in this careful dance for over 30 years, maintaining its autonomy from Myanmar and China. In this talk, Aexamine the process of region-making in Wa Region: how its political visions are incongruous with the language of the modern state-form, how it makes and breaks intermittent ties with neighbouring states, and how it regulates the movement of people and capital in and through its region to ensure survival. I make some simple reflections on what the UWSA’s differing vision of autonomy might mean for Myanmar in the post-coup era.

Register online:

https://lse.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZclfuGurjwrHNTSrqArsZ7gck66ky7rINFB#/registration