This paper examines insurgent citizenship practices employed by activists in the Burmese women’s movement from the 1990s and onwards. The Burmese women’s movement was formed in the borderlands surrounding Myanmar in the shadow of civil war and military rule, within the framework of broader oppositional political and armed struggles against the regime. Consisting of political exiles, refugees and ethnic insurgents, this movement has successfully used the transnational, transitory space of the borderlands to constitute themselves as political subjects with legitimate claims to rights, citizenship and leadership. Drawing on interviews, this analysis interrogates women’s activism through the lens of insurgent citizenship practices. Thus, how have Burmese women’s activists claimed rights and lived citizenship in exile? Three main strategies are examined: firstly, women have positioned themselves as political actors and authorities through involvement in governance and humanitarian aid delivery in refugee camps. Secondly, they have claimed rights and constructed themselves as political subjects through engagement with international norms, networks and arenas. Thirdly, they have claimed citizenship and political influence in oppositional nation-making projects through engaging with and negotiating ethno-nationalist armed struggles. The analysis highlights the multifaceted nature of women’s insurgent citizenship practices, showing how they navigate multiple subject positions, direct their rights claims towards multiple governing authorities, and enact multiple political communities.

Elisabeth Olivius is a Senior Lecturer in Peace and Conflict Studies at Umeå University, Sweden. Her research focuses on how gendered relations of power are produced and reshaped in processes of conflict, displacement and peacebuilding. In ongoing projects she explores the role of diasporic women’s organizations in peacebuilding in Myanmar, examining how their activism contributes to reshape conceptions of gender, ethnicity, and nation. She has previously published on the politics of gender equality in humanitarian aid; men and masculinity in humanitarian gender policy; and political participation and space in refugee camps.

No co-authors

none