Cross-border transitions: navigating conflict and political change through community education practices in Myanmar and the Thai border

Abstract

Political oscillations in Myanmar and Thailand, between militarisation and democratic reform, have prompted a rapid renegotiation of the alignments, goals and priorities of non-state education providers, both international and community-based, along the two countries’ border. This paper explores the responses to shifts in political environment which have affected community education practices, particularly for those whose interrupted education trajectories have further added to their social subordination, within Myanmar and amongst the refugee and migrant communities along the Thai border. Beginning with an outline of the nomadic space that these communities inhabit, I then explore the ways in which community education is influenced by and responding to changing cross-border movements and political shifts.