Women in Myanmar have long held a pivotal role in opposition to military rule and remain crucial to the revolution's success, according to Waves of Upheaval in Myanmar: Gendered Transformations and Political Transitions, a new book released today by feminist scholars and human rights defenders from Myanmar and beyond.

This is the first-ever edited volume of feminist voices in Myanmar published since the coup.

“Despite Aung San Suu Kyi, the story of Myanmar has been dominated by simple, male-oriented narratives,” said Jenny Hedström, Associate Professor at Swedish Defence University and an editor of the volume.

“We wanted to create new knowledge that could show the realities of gendered politics and everyday life in Myanmar, and how they’ve been interlinked before and since the deadly coup. This also helps us understand the persistence of male-dominated, militarized political power that made the coup possible and the prominence and role of women in anti-coup resistance”, she explained.

The 290-page book includes 11 chapters as well as an introduction, foreword, and afterword by leading feminist scholars, junior scholars, and human rights defenders. The book was launched at The Fort—a space in central Bangkok for changemakers in Southeast Asia—with a distinguished panel of speakers, including professors, women human rights defenders, and a representative from the Swedish Embassy to Myanmar.

The book’s narrative chapters – conversations with human rights defenders – give voice to the often-overlooked political work by women in Myanmar, while the theoretical chapters focus on gendered changes in formal spheres (political legislation, peace work and laws) and informal spheres (everyday life and intimate relations). The book illustrates how decades of labour by women throughout the country have sustained communities in the face of violence and upheaval and paved the way for a younger generation of activists who emerged after the 2021 coup.

“This 2021 Spring Revolution is historic” said Dr Khin Mar Mar Khin, a feminist scholar from Myanmar and author of a chapter in the book. “For the first time, we see ideological and identity-oriented revolutions in Myanmar that include gender. This is really exciting and I’m hopeful to see the dawn of real social change and turning the tables on these issues."

The editors, Jenny Hedström and Elisabeth Olivius, were able to convene Myanmar voices in the book in part because of the pre-coup “political transition” from 2011 to 2021, which enabled the emergence of feminist voices from a variety of previously ignored places. However, several chapters in the book illustrate how Myanmar’s so-called transition was in no way the liberal success story that international observers often held it to be.

As such, the volume not only provides important insights into the gendered experiences and effects of the last decades of change in Myanmar, but also offers readers a deeper understanding of the political situation in Myanmar and Southeast Asia and of the ways in which Myanmar’s political landscape might continue to be reshaped.

“The book shows how a decade of relative freedom and openness created a young generation with new political ideals and values, and the military did not like or understand these changes,” said Elisabeth Olivius, Associate Professor at Umeå University and an editor of the volume. “The military opted instead to take power and attack the civilian population.”

The book includes conversations between human rights defenders and scholars that illustrate the lack of formal recognition of women as leaders in Myanmar despite their labour to ensure the survival of their immediate families and broader communities, and to achieving revolutionary goals.

“It is our hope that the collective knowledge gathered in this book will be of use for future students, activists and policy makers who can learn from the herstories of brave activists and Burmese scholars going before them, to create a more just and inclusive society, a society which takes the demands and lessons of women seriously, now, not later. “ said Jenny Hedström.

Waves of Upheaval in Myanmar: Gendered Transformations and Political Transitions is published by NIAS Press and will be distributed by Silkworm Books in Southeast Asia and Hawaii University Press in North America.