State and society in modern Rangoon

Auteur :
SEEKINS, D.M.

Description :
The A. explains his work as an exercise in contemporary history drawn from press reports, interviews with people on the ground and accounts of exiles living outside of Burma since the tumultuous events of 1988. Themes connecting the past with contemporary developments, like the centrality of Buddhism and its holy sites with the social, political and spiritual life of Rangoon, are emphasized. The past is always remembered and close by. Certain patterns seem to recur in the former capital : state incompetence and corruption, people’s hardship, popular anger and support of patriotic activist groups, especially students and monks. Also recurring is the massive intervention of a heavily armed state (colonial, socialist, or “liberal”) to take back the city streets from protesters and restore “order”. Rangoon is both the principal stage upon which the Burma’s politics have been played since colonial times but also one of the world’s great revolutionary city. - (GL)


Type de document :
Monographie

Source :
252 p., Références bibliographiques : 15 p.

Date :
2011

Identifiants :
isbn : 978-0-415-31852-5

Editeur :
Pays édition : Royaume-Uni, London, Routledge