Pioneers of the plantation economy: militarism, dispossession and the limits of growth in the Wa State of Myanmar

Abstract

The characteristic mobility of highland populations in Southeast Asia relied to a large extent on their particular adaption to an ecological environment: swidden cultivation of tubers on mountain slopes. This ecology corresponded to cosmologies in which potency was limitless, or at least had no fixed and delimited precinct (as did the rice paddies and Buddhist realms in the valleys). Military state building, modern transport, and new crops and agricultural technologies have effectively ended swidden cultivation. In this article, I follow the pioneers of the plantation economy in the Wa State of Myanmar, who dispossess local populations of their land and employ them as plantation labour. The limits of growth and potency they encounter are (a) in the natural environment and (b) in the resistance of local populations. Yet, even though there are such limits, the potency to which these pioneers aspire is still limitless. It is however channelled through a new economy of life, epitomised in the plantation, nourished in excessive feasting, and maintained by the kinship dynamics of capture and care.

Warfare in Peacetime: Proxies and State Powers

“…Human conflict is an interactive struggle, not the actions of one living thing against a fixed and dead opponent; a proxy, for example, may well begin in subordination but come to be a full partner in the course of time. 19 Following are some measures of proximity, power, and collusion.…”

“…In 1979, he declared that their victory "will mean a transformation in the geopolitics of Central America." 19 Two years later, he argued, "This revolution goes beyond our borders." 20 The Reagan White House was thus responding with containment.…”

“…See San Francisco Examiner, 6 May 1984. This author is, of course, in no position to verify or deny such details. 19 James Nelson Goodsell, "Nicaragua: War for Export?," Christian Science Monitor, 25 July 1979, 1. 20 Tomás Borge Martínez (speech, Managua, Nicaragua, 19 July 1981), quoted in "Revolution Beyond Our Borders": Sandinista Intervention in Central America (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of State, n.d. [1983]), 3.…”

Sovereignty as Care: Acquaintances, Mutuality, and Scale in the Wa State of Myanmar

“…These forms of attentive care are decidedly one-sided and backed up by the new acquaintances and the mutuality formed first in the army and later in business. The circles of acquaintances and the expansion of mutuality were facilitated by the introduction of new media (Steinmüller 2019; 2021) and distinguish the commanders from ordinary soldiers such as Sai Pao. This difference is reproduced in the politics of care, as it varies between foot soldiers and commanders: Because of their obvious and direct impacts on people’s lives, ordinary people must worry about their commanders’ intentions.…”

“…Other than for their health, people in Wa State also care for machines and plants, for instance. Care is absolutely central to understand the economy of life embodied in the plantation (Steinmüller 2021). Public donations, development assistance, and independent philanthropy in the Wa State create different “communities of care,” each uniting a set of actors and recipients along a particular moral logic (Ong and Steinmüller 2021).…”