Myanmar: Religion, Identity, and Conflict in a Democratic Transition

Abstract

Farrelly provides an in-depth assessment of identity-based conflict dynamics within Myanmar’s gradual shift to a more democratic system of government. Civil conflicts, that long raged in the country’s ethnically distinct corners, encourage the fortification of political discourses about identity, unity, and non-disintegration. With its difficult history of bloodshed and trauma, social cohesion is a goal worth pursuing. Myanmar’s transition to an increasingly open, inclusive, prosperous, and peaceful society requires new capacity to be built at every level of government, and across the broad range of ethnic and religious identities. Farrelly argues that working cooperatively and effectively with different identity-based factions in Myanmar is a profound test of the concepts of peacebuilding and conflict resolution.