The Business of Transition: Law Reform, Development and Economics in Myanmar

Abstract

A joke was going around about the impact of development in the country since Myanmar began its controlled transition to a quasi-civilian government in 2011. Th e word for 'to develop' , 'to progress' or 'to improve' in Burmese is 'တု ိ ္ းတက'္ . Th is is made up of two words, which mean, respectively, 'to push, to advance or to go forward' and 'to climb up, to advance or to get on' . Th e joke would begin with one person commenting, 'Th e country is really developing . ' To which another person would reply, 'Yes, now you have to push to get on the bus. ' Th e play on the double-meaning of the word 'to develop' and 'to push' here is a telling sign of the illusive promise of development. Th e joke is a reference to the fact that the only thing that has changed for many people in Yangon is that the public buses are more crowded. Th is is not to mention that the traffi c on the roads is oft en at a standstill because of the dramatic increase in car imports.Th is book is oriented around the theme of the 'business of transition' . It is concerned with how to understand the 'business' that takes place in times of major political change. Th ere has been growing recognition of the commercial stakes and business activities of the rule-of-law industry (Marshall 2014: xiv). Th is book identifi es the way in which law creates new markets, law embodies hopes of social engineering and law reform is motivated by the goal of economic gain. Th is book is an invitation to think carefully and critically about the intersection between law, development and economics in times of political transition. Th is theme is one that has caused considerable angst and soul-searching in academia and public policy and amongst legal practitioners. It is hoped that by focusing on one specifi c context -Myanmar -as the latest site for law and development and rule-of-law reforms fresh insights can be gained. Th e importance of Myanmar cannot be underestimated, given its strategic location between China and India and the perception that it is the newest

Business, peacebuilding, violent conflict and sustainable development in Myanmar: presenting evidence from a new survey dataset

“…In response, scholars have extensively studied and debated the role of economic opening upon society in Myanmar (Meyer and Thein, 2014;Jones, 2014;Ko, 2015;Crouch, 2017;Andrews et al, 2019), particularly in relationship to ethnic tensions after the period of opening (Mangan, 2018;Miklian, 2019). As if to punctuate the point, as of this writing (7 February 2021), a military junta has again taken over the country through a coup d'e ´tat.…”