Aung Naing
What happens when the state becomes actively hostile or collapses entirely? In large swathes of post-coup Myanmar, conflict has transformed many previously peaceful areas into war zones where everyday life is scarred by violence. Yet in these warscapes, resistance persists and takes many forms. In the face of ongoing threats, new islands of citizenship are emerging: community-led welfare, education, healthcare, disaster management, and local governance. These forms of governance constitute acts of imagination in which solidarity, agency, and innovation sustain hopefulness in the absence of optimism.
This book documents this reimagining of local governance and community life through the experiences of community members, village leaders, and civic volunteers for whom this kind of reimagining is a daily necessity. Their stories call for international actors to stand with these communities in the process of reimagining, resisting the urge to passively accept the status quo, and instead channeling resources to emerging sites of possibility
- THEME