A land regime for the future Kawthoolei Contentious land politics in Kawthoolei, Burma Ida Fagervold Master of Science in Human Geography Department of Sociology and Human Geography UNIVERSITY OF OSLO May 2021 Word count: 48.816 II A land regime for the future Kawthoolei Contentious land politics in Kawthoolei, Burma III © Ida Fagervold 2021 A land regime for the future Kawthoolei: contentious land politics in Kawthoolei, Burma. Ida Fagervold https://www.duo.uio.no/ IV Abstract Theoretically questioning what land is and why it gets contentious, this thesis explores land politics in Burma as a contentious political space. Utilizing a multi-scalar approach the main objective is to investigate the construction and assemblage of land in its complex and dynamic relations to conflict in Burma, and specifically Kawthoolei. The research uses a social constructivist approach to uncover how land is (re)constructed and contested through multiple processual, temporal and relational productions of space. This thesis is a qualitative case study building on visual, textual and oral data collected from November 2020 to February 2021 to explore how and why land politics is a contentious political domain in Burma. Particularly focusing on Mutraw District and the Salween Peace Park conservation initiative in Kawthoolei, Burma. Seeing land and contention as inherently political processes the research explores how multiple actors seek to obtain spatial control over specific areas of land through different ontological and structural processes, framed as specific land regimes. The thesis argues that in the given case this process is driven by diverse actors’ aspirations to materialize the imagined future of a homeland. Exploring how multiple land regimes socially construct land within specific, discursive projects, in sum producing a contentious political landscape, the thesis connects multiple contestations to each other, and weaves them into historical dynamics of political economy, conflict, and colonialization in Kawthoolei, the Karen homeland. V VI Acknowledgements Wow, what a journey this has been! I never imagined I could experience such an emotional, challenging and rewarding rollercoaster- ride from the dining table in my apartment in Oslo. I am extremely grateful to the activists and scholars who have let me into their space and shared of their knowledge and experiences, both now and in the past. Thank you! I am also thankful to the ones I never met, but have seen in interviews, videos, documents and other work - thank you for being a window into the Karen communities and Kawthoolei. I hope to meet you in the future, under different circumstances. A loud thank you to my supervisor, Kristian Stokke, who has suffered through successive minor and major existential crises in the course of this thesis. Your patience, knowledge, advice, dry humor, and activism (!), has been invaluable when things turned out the way it did. Your tireless work for the people of Burma, and your students, is inspirational! Frida Sofie! Thank you for your patience, letting me write my thesis all over the apartment, and providing me with endless love, wine and food, and contributing extensively to the writing up of the thesis. This process would not have been completed if it were not for you. Thank you to everyone who have discussed, challenged and supported my work, particularly Bortelaget, who has been of immense importance. Hannah, thank you your magnificent brain and excellent English, being an emotional support, and, well, everything else. Kristine, thank you for good advice, discussions, sassy humor and taking the fights when I was tired. Klo, thank you for your support when cultural confusion occurred and the imposter syndrome kicked in. Thank you, Hanne, for being a great support, giving strong advice, lending an ear and a book when in need. Lars and Savannah, thank you for proofreading and commenting on messy texts and unfinished thoughts. Thanks to friends and family who has suffered through hours of talk about Burma, Karen and land politics, it will probably not end here or any time in the near future. Ida Fagervold, Oslo, Mai 2021 VII Abbreviations and acronyms AFPFL: Anti-Fascist People Freedom League BSPP: Burma Socialist Programme Party CF: Community Forest CPB: Communist Part of Burma DKBA: Democratic Karen Buddhist Army EAO: Ethnic Armed Organization GA: General Assembly GC: Governance Committee GoM: Government of Myanmar KAD: Karen Agricultural Department Kaw: traditional land governance system Kawthoolei: The Karen homeland as defined by the Karen movement and the KNU KESAN: Karen Environmental and Social Action Network is a Karen CSO KFD: Karen Forest Department KHRG: Karen Human Rights Group is a Karen community based organization KNA/KNU: Karen National Alliance later changed to Karen National Union KNLA: Karen National Liberation Army Ku: traditional upland rotational farming practice LUC: Land Use Certificate Tatmadaw: Burma Army UN: United Nations UNFC: United Nationalities Federal Council SPP: The Salween Peace Park NCA: Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement NDF: National Democratic Front VIII NLD: National League for Democracy is the political party of Aung San Sue Kyi, which won its first election in 2015, and the second in 2020. SLORC: State Law and Order Restoration Council USDP: Union Solidarity and Development Party VFV/VFV-law: Vacant Follow and Virgin land/Vacant Virgin, and Fallow land law IX Table of Content CHAPTER 1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 1 The empirical and theoretical foundations ........................................................................................... 2 Presenting Kawthoolei and the Salween Peace Park ........................................................................... 3 Research aim and limitations ................................................................................................................. 4 Structure .................................................................................................................................................. 5 CHAPTER 2 Method and methodology .................................................................................................... 7 Research objectives ................................................................................................................................. 7 Breaking down the research ............................................................................................................... 7 Ontological and epistemological vantage points ................................................................................... 8 Research Design ....................................................................................................................................... 9 Choice of case and site of research ......................................................................................................... 9 Changes in research design............................................................................................................... 10 Data collection........................................................................................................................................ 11 Sampling and reaching informants .................................................................................................. 12 Accessing unpublished work ............................................................................................................ 12 Conversations ..................................................................................................................................... 12 Observation ........................................................................................................................................ 13 Document analysis ............................................................................................................................. 13 Multimedia and digital data ............................................................................................................. 14 Written memories .............................................................................................................................. 14 Previous data collection .................................................................................................................... 15 Data and privacy ............................................................................................................................... 15 Digital research – its limitations and opportunities ........................................................................... 16 Digital outreach ................................................................................................................................. 16 Language as a barrier ....................................................................................................................... 17 Written Process and Analysis ............................................................................................................... 17 Process tracing ................................................................................................................................... 18 Coding................................................................................................................................................. 18 Moving from analyzing to synthesizing ..........................................................................................