Papers (Part 1)

• At the Mountains of Resistance: The Struggle of the Kabalukan Communities Georgi Engelbrecht European Union

  President Rodrigo Duterte is spearheading efforts to finally bring long-lasting peace to
  Mindanao. His handling of the two largest Moro Revolutionary Fronts - the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) - has so far produced some positive results. The pinnacle of the peace process is the formation of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) which has three years to take charge of the autonomous Bangsamoro region. However, the Bangsamoro struggle has moved away from one direction and one mainstream rebel group – the MILF - towards several branches. As a result, human security on the ground and even the absence of hostilities is not a given. From 2011 onwards, a splinter armed group called the BIFF – until now outside of the peace process, even though in talks with the MILF to come back to the mainstream movement - had been active in the remote areas of Maguindanao province, Philippines. At some point it was considered the “vanguard” of the Moro resistance, particularly after the peace talks seemed to stagnate and not move properly. With the presidency of Duterte a breakthrough was achieved, but many things remain unclear. As late as March 2019 several military offensives in Maguindanao led to the displacement of thousands. The present situation on the ground is often very complicated and different layers of armed violence, armed groups, and governance systems will be challenging the implementation period of the peace agreements. In the middle of it are the communities who are experiencing war over and over, despite formal peace. This paper will look at a particular geographical cluster and re-visit communities in which the author had tried to set-up a zone of peace in early 2013 with local civil society partners. This micro-study of intervention and subsequent analysis of violence and the navigation of communities in the middle of the storm could draw some lessons for peace-building initiatives of the future and throw a light on the evolution and regression of armed conflict.

• Encompassed State-Making in Southeast Myanmar Annika Pohl Harrisson Aarhus University

  This paper explores the processes of state-making by the New Mon State Party (NMSP), an ethnic armed organization (EAO) that claims to represent the Mon people in Southeast Myanmar, and which has fought the Myanmar military to pursue self-representation for the past 50 years. Based on ethnographic fieldwork, the paper focuses on a specific area that is encompassed by three states in the making: the NMSP, the official Myanmar state and another EAO, the Karen National Union (KNU). The article shows that NMSP state-making happens neither in parallel to nor through a simple separation from the Myanmar government and the KNU, but through different forms of encompassment. I introduce the concept of ‘encompassed state-making’ to capture the simultaneous mimicry and opposition of the NMSP’s state-making practices in relation to the other two states. The article, in addition, explores how Mon villagers navigate life in the context of encompassed states. I argue that while the NMSP is seen as the legitimate ruler, pragmatic engagement with other states is a condition of living in an encompassed state.

• Legacies of Conflict at the Indo-Burmese Frontier: Manhood, Frontier, and Prolonged Ceasefire in Nagaland, India Matthew Wilkinson University of New South Wales

  The Indian state of Nagaland is emerging from a decades long conflict between the government of India and various insurgent actors in the state. Presently, a number of ceasefires have ‘frozen’ much of this conflict, and the state is witness to a tense peace that is only occasionally broken. My research considers the dynamic relationships between ceasefire, the changing nature of the frontier, and the changing roles of men in Naga society as the state experiences this shift from violent conflict to (relative) peace. Ultimately, I seek to understand how the changing nature of conflict in Nagaland shape local ideas about men’s roles as guardians, protectors, and custodians of Naga territory, society, and culture. In other words, how does perpetual ceasefire shape the experiences of men in a borderland where life has, until very recently, been defined by armed conflict? I argue that as Nagaland experiences the transition from conflict to post-conflict, men’s ambitions in the state are less focused on violent insurgent politics, although violent insurgency is indeed still present, and more focused on de-territorialized cosmopolitan engagements with India and the wider world. Amongst this change, new contestations emerge, between traditional men’s roles and modern politics, between ethno-nationalism and de-territorialized ambitions, and ultimately between ideologies informed by the realities of conflict, and ideologies informed by the possibilities associated with peace.

Papers (Part 2)

• Shall We Dance? Conflict and the Neglected Legacies of Civil Pluralism in the Asian Hinterland Hjorleifur Jonsson Arizona State University

  My case draws on ethnohistorical work involving Mien ethnic minority peoples in Thailand and Laos during 1870-1975 and on field research in Thailand since 1990. In Laos, the Mien formed an ethnic militia while nothing of the sort happened in Thailand. I explore the contrast as an angle on state-margin relations. What are the strategies used, past or present, to entangle the margins and the state, and why does ethnic dance seem so appropriate nowadays? I suggest that civil pluralism is an ordinary practice that was foundational to the shaping of the SEAsia’s diversity, and that cases of political breakdown deserve careful study as individual anomalies and not regular occurrences. Western scholarship on Southeast Asia made ethnic tensions seem ordinary. Anthropological theory and research contributed greatly to the silencing of legacies of interethnic entanglements in the region, because of the quest for ethnic groups as a research topic. If instead multiethnic networks are the analytical starting point, what are the implications for an understanding of the region, history, and individual countries?

• Shifting Battleground: Peace Dialogue, Self-Determination and Armed Group in Southern Thailand Rungrawee Chalermsripinyorat Australian National University

  This paper investigates the significant turn towards peacebuilding of the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), the main armed separatist group currently active in southern Thailand. This is a long-standing conflict, which is the unfinished legacy of the colonial era. The predominantly Malay Muslim region, historically known as Patani sultanate, was annexed to the Buddhist majority Thailand as a result of a treaty between Thailand and the Great Britain, which controlled the Malay Peninsula in the early twentieth century. The latest episode of violent rebellion dramatically surged in 2004. Thus far, nearly 7,000 people have been killed and 13,000 injured in the violent conflict. Following the launching of 2013 formalised peace dialogue, we have witnessed the scaling down of armed rebellion, perceived by the fighters as “jihad”, in parallel with the pursuit of peace process. Besides, there has also been an increasing emphasis on the secular discourse of the rights to self-determination. Based on dozens of interviews with leaders and members of key liberation groups, particularly Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), and rare primary documents produced by the movements, I contend that the BRN has adapted to the changing political opportunities and seeking legitimacy from outsiders has become part of its political project more than previously. This shift demonstrates that it is vitally important to contextualise violent extremism and genuine openness of political space for negotiation could help bring about moderation.

Abstract

Keywords

• Borderlands
• Conflict
• Military