Lois Desaine analyses the role of non-State actors seeking to cope with the shortcomings of this economic and political system. Gradually, over the last 15 years, Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) have become the experts of the "politics of silence"; attempting to influence decisions while remaining low profile and avoiding direct confrontation with various layers of the government. A critical analysis of this tentative transition should determine the role played by NGOs in Myanmar. Would NGOs then be recognized as protractors of the lifespan of the regime, mitigating its economic mismanagement and tempering the tensions in ethnic areas? Or will they be considered as the leaders of a silent, fragmented, opposition trying to influence positive political change in a constrained context?

 

Lois Desaine holds a MA in Political Sciences. She is working with and on civil society organisations in South and South-East Asia for 10 years. Her recent researches focus on social changes in Myanmar, where she lives for more than 5 years. She recently published La junte birmane contre l'ennemi intérieur (L'Harmattan, 2008).

Table of Contents

Introduction

Part One : Religious and ethnic dimensions of Myanmar NGOs

1 - Myanmar NGOs: a multifaceted civil society dominated by ethnic and faith based organisations
1.1 - Methodology of the study
1.2 - Religious and ethnic trends framing Myanmar NGOs and solidarity networks

2 - Religion and ethnicity in Myanmar NGOs: Historical factors and contemporary facts
2.1 - From the first modern professional NGOs to the emergence of a Myanmar civil society
2.2 - Cyclone Nargis: disaster or opportunity for Myanmar NGOs?

Part Two : Myanmar NGOs: support to the regime or roots of the opposition?

1 - How powerful are the Myanmar NGOs?
1.1 - What are the sources of power and legitimacy for NGOs?
1.2 - Are changes at higher, central levels possible?

2 - NGOs as actors of decentralization at the local level: case studies in the Kachin State
2.1 - Case studies of two Kachin NGOs
2.2 - Personal trajectories: from NGO involvement to political activism

3 - The role(s) of NGOs in a political transition
3.1 - Individual perceptions and NGOs' politics
3.2 - "No word, no confrontation"

Conclusion