This roundtable event brings together academic, policymaking and activist expertise to discuss the prospects for peace in Myanmar. At this crucial juncture in Myanmar’s political history, the speakers reflect on the dynamics that have led up to this major point of crisis and transition, and the prospects for moving beyond violence and war to a new future.
Please register to attend in person (SAL.G.03).
Speakers:
Lway Mownt Noon is an ethnic Ta’ang woman, political activist, and former political prisoner who was imprisoned for over 6 years (1996 - 2002) for her active participation in the 1996 university student protest for democratic revolution in Myanmar. She was deeply involved in the 2011-2021 Myanmar Peace Process before she fled Myanmar. Currently, she is a research fellow at the University of York.
Vicky Bowman CMG has been the Director of Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business (MCRB) since July 2013, and is also a Senior Adviser at the Institute of Human Rights and Business (IHRB). From 2011-2013 she led global mining company Rio Tinto's policy approach to transparency, human rights and resource nationalism/resource curse issues, and was previously a British diplomat serving as ambassador to Myanmar from 2002-2006, and Brussels from 1996 to 2002 as UKREP Spokesperson, and then as member of Cabinet of European Commissioner Chris Patten.
Dr David Brenner is Senior Lecturer in Global Insecurities in the Department of International Relations at the University of Sussex. He is the author of Rebel Politics: A Political Sociology of Armed Struggle in Myanmar’s Borderlands (Cornell University Press, 2019).
Khin Thet San is from Myanmar, a fellow of the Council for Scholars At Risk, and is currently doing PhD program in Human Rights and Politics at Goldsmiths, University of London. As a researcher and trainer focusing on peace, conflict resolution, access to justice, and human rights, her research analyzes the impact of religious nationalism on human rights in Myanmar. She volunteers regularly as a human rights and peacebuilding educator for youth groups in Myanmar via Spring University.
Discussant:
Dr Claire Smith is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of York, with a focus on Southeast Asian politics. Claire’s research on peacebuilding, managing violence during democratic transitions, mass atrocities and civil war is published in leading journals such as Conflict, Security and Development, Third World Quarterly and Peacebuilding.
Chair:
Dr Petra Alderman is a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow in Leadership for Inclusive and Democratic Politics and Research Fellow with the Centre for Elections, Democracy, Accountability and Representation (CEDAR) at the University of Birmingham. She is the author of Branding Authoritarian Nations: Political Legitimation and Strategic National Myths in Military-Ruled Thailand.
Photo by aboodi vesakaran on Unsplash