Military Battles and Cultural Wars: Approaching Ethnic Insurgency in Upland Southeast Asia

Myanmar has endured one of the longest-running internal conflicts in modern history, with Cold War geopolitics mapping onto fractures often conceptualised along ethnic lines. Strife continues, though has been recalibrated since the 2021 coup d’état. In this presentation, expanding on her research from her book Repossessing Shanland: Myanmar, Thailand, and a Nation-State Deferred, anthropologist Jane M Ferguson will delve into the changing generational shifts in notions of ethnicity and sovereignty in the uplands of Southeast Asia. 

Bio:
Jane M Ferguson is Associate Professor of Anthropology and Southeast Asian History at the Australian National University. She has carried out ethnographic fieldwork in Myanmar, Thailand and border areas on issues of ethnic insurgency and historical narratives. She has published on a range of topics, including ethno-nationalism, Burmese cinema, coffee, unpopular culture, and airlines. 

This event is part of the Perspective Asia Lecture Series