A guest blogger from Burma

In this blog we host Emelie Svensson who is a MA student at LUMID at Lund University and received a MFS scholarship to do her research in Burma. Here are some of her reflections. 

Burma is often called ‘the land of the golden pagodas’, even though I have not visited any of them; it is certainly true, as there is a golden stupa at every mountaintop and city corner. I often think about the far better use this gold could have done if it was sold and the money used for hospitals, roads and education for the people. Burma has since the coup in 1962 been ruled by an authoritarian military junta, now lead by the ‘civilian’ president U Thein Sein. Both political freedoms and ethnic minorities have been heavily supressed during this long period of ruthless dictatorship, which have been using the so-called ‘dived and rule’ principle instituted by the former suppressors, the British Empire. However, reforms have been visible in the political system in Burma during at least the last six years. The military junta changed their uniforms into suits and began with what they call the ‘Seven-step roadmap to democracy’. Ceasefire agreement and peace negotiations between the national military and armed ethical minority groups have been initiated. These changes have open up the country to both curious tourists, international investments, and it has enabled both press and parts of the democracy movement to return from years in exile.

It might sound like a saga were the bad guys finally realise that their actions have been bad and now are trying to genuinely change the situation. Thus, this is not the case. Burma is still very unstable and the power remains solely within the government and the military, and the changes mostly benefit the government and it’s crony’s. Journalists are continually being imprisoned (and there have recently been cases of extra-judicial execution) for writing about issues that are sensitive to the government. Members of the student movement get imprisoned for protesting and demanding their rights. In addition to this, several fighting between the military and ethnic armed groups are currently on-going both in the north of Shan state, in Kachin state and in Karen state.

So what am I doing in Burma if I am not visiting temples and pagodas (which seem to be the main destination of most tourist that are visiting the country)? Currently I am collecting data for my Master thesis in development studies. I have had the opportunity to do this, as I got a MFS (Minor Field Study) scholarship from the department of human geography at Stockholm University.

In this study I am looking deeper into young women’s participation in the Burmese student and youth movement to understand how these women perceive the current political situation in Burma. This study is especially relevant as Burma is undertaking this democratisation process, or at least this is what the international community seems to believe even if the national opposition, the Burmese civil society together with many scholars are sceptical toward the direction of this process. The civil society, especially the student and youth movement, are important actors in the political landscape in Burma. I will look at the participation and role of women in the civil society using feminist democracy theory, which discuss on the importance of bringing women’s (and other marginalised groups) experiences to the arena to make an inclusive community democratic dialogue.

So how is my study going? I have travelled across the country to meet with youth organisations and the young women working in them. I started in the very south of the country in Dawei and I have travelled to Lashio the north of Shan stat (close to the Chinese border) and tomorrow I am taking a 17 hour bus to the town of Kalay in the north east, close to the Indian border. The women that I have talked to have very interesting both horrifying and more hopeful stories including everything from imprisonment, working underground, having babies, taking important steps toward democracy, war, people fleeing, and loud protest against the new education system. Even though a new night-bus awaits, and my stomach is grumpy as a 5-year old, I am loving this amazing experience and the opportunity to meet so many smart, brave and hard working women in this intriguing and important movement!

  

Canals and furrows now published in Azania

Furrow irrigation

In the summer 2013 I posted a comment on terminology on the Farmlands blog Furrows in Africa -- canals in the Americas ? With some additional comments and references it is now published in Azania;

Abstract _This brief comment argues that the use of the term furrow system for locally developed irrigation in Eastern Africa is misleading in an international comparative perspective. It is at odds with the terminology in irrigation engineering and also with the archaeological terminology used outside Eastern Africa. Internationally, the term canal is used for the artificial watercourses that bring water from the source to the field, while furrow irrigation refers to one specific way of applying water to the individual field.

Find the published version at this link. Do not hesitate to write to mats.widgren@humangeo.su.se if you want a digital offprint.

In response to an earlier blog post

Last week Prof. Martin Jones published a blog post on food plants in Marakwet. He writes about the market in Kolowa in East Pokot "A link between cash crops and men as posited by recent writers such as Caretta and  Börjeson (2014) was not as immediately evident, as the market and other places contained many entrepreneurial women." and then he adds " Caretta and  Börjeson detail a series of crop varietal names which overlap with, but do not entirely match the longer list compiled by Helena.  This is unsurprising as all parties are recalling varietal names, sometimes from their parents’ and grandparents’ generations.  Further enquiries would clarify these, and indeed some terms may have multiple usages." 

In response to Prof. Jones´ statements I would like to add two points. First of all, our article referred mostly to women´s and men´s labor as in cultivation, not in trading. However, it is true that women are the principal, if not the sole, sellers at market, especially at the one in Kolowa and at Tot centre. This circumstance however does not mean that women have control over cash crops or, if you like, more recently introduced crops that have brought about livelihood diversification through sale. Women in fact sell minimal quantities in these local markets, while men deal directly with wholesalers. Yet another instance in which local patriarchal structures are manifested. This power configuration points also to the fact that the informal economy is often feminized and feeds off the care economy i.e. unpaid work. Moreover, as showed by Carney (1993) in The Gambia, markets risk being saturated by women selling vegetable decreasing their returns.  

Secondly, Prof. Jones correctly states that crop names have changed through generations and that the ones mentioned in our articles constitute a partial listing. In fact, while I never heard some of the name mentioned in his blog post, I could remember other ones. Indicative of this multiplicity of names is the fact that once when I was carrying an interview, also with the assistance of Helena Chepto, a lady who was originally from a Chesongoch used a different name than Helena to indicate the same long term millet seeds that we were looking at. Hence, crop varietal names are not only generation specific, but also place specific within Marakwet. As Prof Jones indicates, it is high time to record and archive seeds and crops varieties in Marakwet. This cultural richness risks being lost with the commercialization of seeds which the new Red Cross-sponsored Tot-Kolowa irrigation project could be the dawn of. A forthcoming publication by me and Wilhelm Östberg will discuss this project and the projects in the last 40 years by of Kerio Valley Development Agency more in depth. 

Finally, I welcome Prof. Jones´ blog post because I think it is the perfect examples of how academic communication and debate can be enhanced through new and quicker forums, such as blogs. While articles drafts are not often shared among academicians hence, missing an opportunity to improve a colleague´s work, blogs can be useful straightforward and easy means to make early work visible and open up for comments.