How Can Scholars from Formerly Colonizing Countries Assist in Decolonizing Burma Studies?

Abstract

In 2022, Htet Min Lwin, a graduate student at York University, became cochair of the Burma Studies Group (BSG), a subdivision of the United States-based scholarly organization, Association for Asian Studies. He’s the second person with heritage from Myanmar to hold this role (which Maitrii Aung-Thwin also did) since the group’s formation in the 1970s—and certainly the youngest. The colonial origins of studying “the East” are well known, as are the roots of “area studies” programs in the Cold War national security interests of the United States and Europe. Thus, the term “formerly” in my title only refers to the end of an official governing relationship; coloniality persists in economic, political, and academic dimensions. Therefore, hearing of this positive news about the BSG led me to reflect on my twenty years participating in this discipline—what has changed, and what has not, in terms of who holds power. When I attended my first Burma Studies Conference in 2008 in Dekalb, IL (home of the International Center for Burma Studies), the field was dominated by older white people from formerly colonizing countries including the United Kingdom and other parts of Europe, North The Journal of Burma Studies Vol. 27, No. 1 (2023), pp. 171–186 © 2023 Center for Burma Studies