Drawing on ethnographic research along the Thailand‐Burma border, this article analyzes the experiences of migrating youth, asking how their socially ambiguous positioning relates to the “liminal landscapes” in which they move. Analyzing images captured on “photo‐walks” along the border, I argue that young migrants strategically exploit potentialities intrinsic in the liminal landscapes that surround them, coupling their socially uncertain position with a particular flexibility in terms of their vision of space. As such, I propose that “photo‐walks” offer an important means by which to integrate analyses of both the social and spatial elements of a life “in‐between.”
Digital platforms have changed how property is sold and valued in the Global North, yet little is known about digital tools in emerging land markets. Drawing on in situ and digital ethnography, we argue that Facebook plays a key role in making a new kind of market in Myanmar, one in which land is transformed into a speculative asset, exchanged across ever‐expanding networks. While commodification is familiar within longer histories of capitalism, this case highlights the significance of digital platforms to the contemporary remaking of property relations. Unlike classic cases of market‐making enabled by active state regulation, Myanmar’s digital land markets were forged in the context of state absence by brokers who harnessed the technological affordances of social media to increase the scale, scope and speed of transactions. This creative re‐appropriation of the platform forged new, unregulated digital markets that ultimately accumulated corporate profits and intensified participant risk.
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