Project description
Land restitution in the context of Myanmar’s transition to democracy
The return of property following regime changes in war-ravaged countries offers a key opportunity to address historical injustices. But while it aims to reconcile differences, it also creates debate over material distribution and political inclusion in the nation’s future. The EU-funded Giving Land Back project investigates land restitution in Myanmar, a formerly authoritarian, predominantly agrarian nation currently undergoing a rapid, public and bumpy transition towards democracy. Building on five years of research on land reform in the country, the project will examine how the new government’s efforts to return land are taking shape and what these processes mean for the nation’s future.
Objective
In the wake of violence, dispossession, and regime change, giving back land offers a critical opportunity to address historic injustice. Yet seeking to reconcile the past invites conflicts over material distribution and political inclusion in the nation’s future. This project investigates land restitution in Myanmar, a formerly authoritarian, predominantly agrarian nation currently undergoing a rapid, public and bumpy transition towards democracy. Building on over five years of research on land reform and agrarian change in Myanmar, I ask how the new government’s efforts to return land are taking shape, and what these processes mean for the nation’s future and for the place of rural land in global development. Under the guidance of Prof. Christian Lund, a leading scholar on the production of property and citizenship in developing societies, this project will contribute new empirical analysis, conceptual insights, and policy recommendations to inform urgent debates on rural transformation, democratization and social inequality.
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Funding Scheme
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinator
1165 Kobenhavn
Denmark