Building unity to fight autocratization – lessons from Myanmar
The period of democratization in Myanmar during the years leading up to the 2021 Military Coup was crucial for the rapid mobilization of the Spring Revolution movement. A new dissertation from the University of Gothenburg highlights the development of the movement, including why the peaceful protests eventually turned violent - insights that are central in an era of increasing autocratization.
The 2021 military coup in Myanmar imprisoned the elected National League for Democracy government of Aung San Suu Kyi and ended a decade-long period of democratization. But despite significant internal divisions in the country, a popular movement quickly emerged.
The Spring Revolution movement built a coalition between various groups in civil society, political parties, and resistance organizations of ethnic minorities. Together, they united behind the goal of establishing a federal democracy.
“My research has tried to explain how the Spring Revolution movement developed its coalition-building approach, why the movement escalated from protest to armed struggle, and how it came to create new forms of governance,” says Paul Vrieze, who recently completed his PhD in Peace and Development Research at the School of Global Studies.
The Spring Revolution movement initially sought to deny the junta legitimacy and political control through large-scale nonviolent resistance. They also formed the National Unity Government and various regional political councils to replace the regime's rule over the population.
“A movement’s mobilization campaign, I found in Myanmar, is particularly strong if it can build on a recent period of democratization, as this led people to experience and value certain political practices and openness, and to develop robust civil society structures,” says Paul Vrieze.
His research findings in Myanmar show that national democracy movements have a strong potential to challenge authoritarian regimes through coalition-building and resource mobilization. A protest movement can create inclusive collective identities, new political narratives, and democratic goals, which can unite actors across a diverse society for a collective political struggle.
“These findings are particularly relevant in the current global context of growing autocratization. It shows how protest movements can build a broad coalition for democratization, which can mobilize diverse actors in society against authoritarian rule,” says Paul Vrieze.
When the military regime used lethal violence to crack down on the protests in March 2021, many young protestors shifted to armed force to resist the regime by forming local militia groups in cooperation with ethnic resistance organizations. Eventually, this caused the movement and National Unity Government to switch to a widespread armed uprising.
“When met with brutal state repression, some protestors may feel forced to turn to armed resistance and the wider movement’s tactics may also shift during this grassroots escalation. This research on such developments in Myanmar helps us understand the risk of state repression of protest movements and how it can lead to violent political conflict,” says Paul Vrieze.
Paul Vrieze successfully defended his PhD thesis, titled Resisting the Return of Military Rule - Coalition Building, Armed Struggle and Governance by Myanmar’s Spring Revolution Movement, on 29 November 2024 at the School of Global Studies, University of Gothenburg.
The abstract and framework of the thesis are uploaded to the University of Gothenburg's database GUPEA: