Historical Preconditions and Causes for the Political Development of Present-day Myanmar
International Conference
Held at the University of Passau, Southeast Asian Studies,
Dr.-Hans-Kapfinger-Straße 14 b, Room 314a, July 18 – 21, 2016
Financed by the Fritz Thyssen Stiftung
Organized by:
Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Korff
Chair of Southeastasian Studies
Prof. Dr. Oliver Hahn
Prof. for Journalism
Dr. phil.habil. Dagmar Hellmann-Rajanayagam
Reader for Southeastasian Studies
Secretariat: Ursula Junk
Myanmar is the northernmost member of ASEAN located between India and China. Currently, it undergoes a period of transition. Since the election victory of the NLD in 2015 it has even more come to the forefront of intrnational interest. However, research on Myanmar still remains on a low level not least due the self-isolation of the country for over 50 years. Not surprisingly, most publications and conferences turn on current political and social conditions and factors for the transformaton. Long term causes and backgrounds for social and ideological development of the country are hardly considered. Research on Myanmar in the German-speaking area, moreover, still focusses primarily on topics of cultural and social anthropology and linguistics.
One of the focal points of the Dept. of Southeast Asian Studies has been Myanmar since nearly 20 years. The Dept. has published several studies on the topic and conducted a number of conferences since 2007. It pursues a social science perspective with a comparative and historical approach. Current political processes are being analysed on the foil of pre-colonial and colonial conditions as well as the dynamics of the ASEAN region. Myanmar is not looked at in isolation, but within the context of the development of Southeast Asia and the region. In 2012 the ‚Wisssenschaftsforum Myanmar’ (WiMya Academic Forum Myanmar) was established with Rüdiger Korff as chairman. WiMya normally conducts two conferences per year. The next conference will take place at Passau from 18th to 21st July. It will mirror the state of the art of international research on Myanmar and will specifically look into the historical and political development of the country, viz. analyse the current dynamics in the light of longer term processes in Myanmar and Southeast Asia. There will be three foci:
- Politics and society
- History and historical legitimation
- Media, public sphere and their significance for present-day Myanmar
Programme:
18th July Arrival of speakers
18:00 Snacks and drinks at the Department (Dr.-Hans-Kapfinger Strasse 14b, Room 314)
19.7. | |||
09:30 | Rüdiger Korff, Daw Yin Yin Myint | Opening and Welcome Speech | |
10:15 | Marie Lall | Keynote: Understanding Reform in Myanmar. People and Society in the wake of Military Rule | |
11:00 | Break | ||
Recent Political Developments | |||
11:30 | Chaw Chaw Sein | Post-election political development of Myanmar | |
Uta Gärtner
Oliver Hahn Dagmar Hellmann |
Legacies of Military Rule
Discussant Moderator |
||
13:00 | Lunch | ||
14:30 | Wolfram Schaffar | Political Change in Myanmar – in comparative perspective | |
Yin Myo Thu
Marie Lall Mo Mo Thant |
Political economy of foreign assistance in Myanmar after 2010
Discussant Moderator |
||
16:00 | Break | ||
16:30 | Carole Ann Chit Tha | ASEAN and Myanmar Relations | |
Seng Raw Lahpai
Jacques Leider Mandy Fox |
Representation of Non-Myanmar in the New Myanmar
Discussant Moderator |
||
19:00 | Dinner | ||
20.7 | Historical Pre-Conditions and Legitimation | ||
09:00 | Jacques Leider | Historical ruptures, ethnoreligious challenges and the current prospects of Rakhine state | |
Mandy Fox | News (Re) Production of Rakhine State by International Media | ||
Discussant:
Moderator: |
Carole Ann Chit Tha
Rüdiger Korff |
||
11:00 | Break | ||
11:30 | Hans-Bernd Zöllner | Political Iconography in Burma/Myanmar – Some Preliminary Considerations | |
Tilman Frasch
Alexey Kirichenko Uta Gärtner |
Between Global Bagan and Global Myanmar
Discussant Moderator |
||
13:00 | Lunch | ||
14:30 | Mo Mo Thant | Social work of Buddhist nuns in Myanmar society | |
Juliane Schober
Wolfram Schaffar Seng Raw Lahpai |
Legislating Race, Religion and Gender: Women in the Contemporary Myanmar Discourse
Discussant Moderator |
||
16:30 | Break | ||
17:00 | Dagmar Hellmann-Rajanayagam | Perceptions of Burmese History | |
Alexey Kirichenko
Mo Mo Thant Juliane Schober |
From Riches to Rags? Historiographical Concepts and the Role of Sources in the Study of Burma’s Past
Discussant Moderator |
||
19:00 | Reception at the conference location | ||
21.7 | Media and Communication in the New Myanmar | ||
09:30 | Oliver Hahn | The Media Landscape in The New Myanmar: The Role of International Actors of Media Development Assistance | |
Ma Thida
Yin Myo Thu Hans-Bernd Zöllner |
Freedom of Expression and Media Literacy in Myanmar
Discussant Moderator |
||
11:00 | Break | ||
11:30 | Rüdiger Korff | Endnote | |
13:00 | Farewell Lunch |
Departure on 21st and 22nd July
List of Speakers:
Carole Ann Chit Tha | Myanmar Institute of Strategic Studies, Yangon |
Chaw Chaw Sein | Dep. International Relations, University of Yangon |
Frasch, Tilman | Manchester Metropolitan University |
Fox, Mandy | University of Passau |
Gärtner, Uta | Humboldt University, Berlin |
Hahn, Oliver | University of Passau |
Helbardt, Sascha | University of Passau |
Hellmann-Rajanayagam, Dagmar | University of Passau |
Kirichenko, Alexey | State University, Moscow |
Korff, Rüdiger | University of Passau |
Lahpai, Seng Raw | Airavati Foundation |
Lall, Marie | University College, London |
Leider, Jacques | Ecole française d’Extrême-Orient, Paris |
Ma Thida | PEN President, Myanmar |
Mo Mo Thant | Dep. History, Yangon University of Distance Education |
Schaffar, Wolfram | University of Vienna |
Schober, Juliane | University of Arizona |
Yin Myo Thu | Dep. International Relations, University of Yangon |
Yin Yin Myint | Ambassador of Myanmar, Berlin |
Zöllner, Hans Bernd | retired |