LibGuides: South East Asian Studies: Burma / Myanmar

Contested Civil Society in Myanmar by Maaike Matelski
ISBN: 9781529230567
Publication Date: 2023
This book centres on various contestations in Myanmar society and illustrates the ways in which these are reflected in civil society. The book offers a concise overview of recent political developments in the country, from the short-lived attempts at democratisation to the 2021 military coup, and analyses the involvement of various civil society actors, as well as their international supporters. It incorporates multiple identities and fault lines in Myanmar society and explains how these influence diverse perceptions, framing and agenda setting as political developments unfold. The book provides an up-to-date overview of the main identities and contestations within Myanmar's civil society and, by extension, within Myanmar society as a whole.

Selected New Ebooks

Myanmar's Peace Process and the Role of Middle Power States by Chiraag Roy
ISBN: 9781003245506
Publication Date: 2022
This book explores middle power engagement in peace processes through the cases of Australian, Japanese and Norwegian engagement in Myanmar's peace process, a core event in Myanmar's contemporary recent political history. The book asks to what extent, and how, middle powers have engaged in Myanmar's peace process as a form of peacemaking entrepreneurship. ...
Yunnan-Burma-Bengal Corridor Geographies by Dan Smyer Yü (Editor); Karin Dean (Editor)
ISBN: 9781000458343
Publication Date: 2021
This book explores the historical interconnections between Bengal, Burma, and Yunnan (China), and views the corridor as a transregion that exhibits mobility, connectivity and diversity as well as place-based ecogeological uniqueness. ...
Colonizing Animals by Jonathan Saha
ISBN: 9781108990240
Publication Date: 2021
Animals were vital to the British colonization of Myanmar. In this pathbreaking history of British imperialism in Myanmar from the early nineteenth century to 1942, Jonathan Saha argues that animals were impacted and transformed by colonial subjugation. By examining the writings of Burmese nationalists and the experiences of subaltern groups, he also shows how animals were mobilized by Burmese anticolonial activists in opposition to imperial rule. ...

Useful websites

Myanmar-English-Myanmar Online Dictionary

University of Yangon Library
Useful library catalogue to search for books and ebooks on Burma.

Myanmar Peace Monitor
Myanmar Peace Monitor is a project run by the Burma News International that works to support communication and understanding in the current efforts for peace and reconciliation in Myanmar.

Online Burma/Myanmar Library
The Online Burma/Myanmar Library contains an index to full texts of individual documents about Burma on the Internet. It houses a collection of articles, conference papers, theses, books, reports, archives and directories.

Prospect Burma
Prospect Burma is a charity based in London. Their mission is to invest in the democratic future of Burma through its young people. The website contains details of their scholarship and related news.

The Burma Campaign UK
The Burma Campaign UK campaigns for human rights and democracy in Burma. The website contains news, reports, campaigns and general information on Burma. There is also a list of related websites.

The Irrawaddy
This is the online version of the Irrawaddy Journal. It includes articles and latest news, with an emphasis on human rights and the political situation. Archives of news and articles can be searched as far back as 1997.

Notable Websites of Some Ethnic Groups in Myanmar:

Kachin - Kachin News Group
Karen - Karen News
Kayah / Karenni - Kantarawaddy Times
Mon - Mon News Agency
Shan - Shan Herald Agency for News

Mandalay Palace (SOAS Special Collections)

Notable Resources

The Jewel Trader of Pegu by Jeffrey Hantover
ISBN: 9780061252709
Publication Date: 2008-01-02
A melancholy young Jewish gem merchant, Abraham, born in Venice, has lived his life behind the ghetto walls of that damp, oppressive city. He has lost a wife and the son whose difficult birth killed her. Now there is nothing left for him there. In the autumn of 1598, Abraham chooses to seek his fortune far from the painful familiarity of Europe and travels halfway across the world to the lush and exotic Burmese kingdom of Pegu. An overpoweringly strange m#65533;lange of sodden heat, colorful customs, and odd superstitions, it is a place and a people completely alien to him. Yet in Pegu, the jewel trader is not hated or shunned for his faith. Here Abraham is a man. Here he is free. But there is a price for his newfound freedom. Local custom demands that foreigners perform a duty Abraham finds both troubling and barbaric. While it is a responsibility many men would embrace eagerly, it mocks Abraham's moral beliefs and fills him with dread and despair . . . until Mya arrives to briefly share his bed. Barely more than a girl, she awakens something within him far more profound--and more pleasurable--than the guilt he anticipated. And when tragedy destroys the future that was planned for her, Abraham takes Mya in, offering her his home, his protection, and, unexpectedly, his love. But great social and political upheaval threatens to violently transform the entire Peguan empire--and the actions of the powerful will force fateful choices that could have devastating consequences for Abraham and Mya and their dreams for the future.