Vol. 50 No. 3 September 2019 ‘Accountability Amidst Fragility, Conflict, and Violence: Learning from Recent Cases’ regard; (c) supporting comprehensive reforms of Myanmar’s security and public administration apparatus by identifying and exploiting the limited political openings that top-down transition leaves. For the short-term, the key focus can rest on exploring creative opportunities that allow for change within the confines of the 2008 constitution, as demonstrated by the NLD’s recent move to place the GAD under a civilian ministry. Simultaneously, however, international donors need to support alliances between CSOs and democratic politicians that push for constitutional change itself. Notes * 1 2 3 4 5 This issue of the IDS Bulletin was prepared as part of Action for Empowerment and Accountability (A4EA), an international research programme exploring social and political action in fragile, conflict, and violent settings. A4EA is a consortium led by IDS and funded with UK aid from the UK government. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the official policies of our funder. David Brenner, Lecturer in International Relations, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK. Sarah Schulman, PhD candidate, Lund University, Sweden. The concept of uncivil society emerges from the analysis of the public sphere in India by Muthiah Alagappa who highlighted the prominence of non-progressive forces that mobilise exclusive and primordial identity categories (Alagappa 2004). Interview with ABMA, Mae Sot, Thailand, 15 December 2010. Interview with ABMA, Mandalay, Myanmar, 6 June 2017. References Alagappa, M. (ed.) (2004) Civil Society and Political Change in Asia: Expanding and Contracting Democratic Space, Stanford CA: Stanford University Press Amnesty International (2017) Mountain of Trouble: Human Rights Abuses Continue at Myanmar’s Letpadaung Mine, London: Amnesty International Brenner, D. (2019) Rebel Politics: A Political Sociology of Armed Struggle in Myanmar’s Borderland, Ithaca NY: Cornell University Press Brenner, D. (2018a) ‘Inside the Karen Insurgency: Explaining Conflict and Conciliation in Myanmar’s Changing Borderlands’, Asian Security 14.2: 83–99 Brenner, D. (2018b) ‘Performing Rebellion: Karaoke as a Lens into Political Violence’, International Political Sociology 12.4: 401–17 Brenner, D. (2017) ‘Authority in Rebel Groups: Identity, Recognition and the Struggle over Legitimacy’, Contemporary Politics 23.4: 408–26 Bünte, M. (2014) ‘Burma’s Transition to Quasi-Military Rule: From Rulers to Guardians?’, Armed Forces and Society 40.4: 742–64 Callahan, M. (2012) ‘The Opening in Burma: The Generals Loosen their Grip’, Journal of Democracy 23.4: 120–31 Callahan, M. (2003) Making Enemies: War and State Building in Burma, Ithaca NY: Cornell University Press 32 | Brenner and Schulman Myanmar’s Top-Down Transition: Challenges for Civil Society