If the junta had expected to return to the status quo ante of military rule before the democratic period, it can only have been surprised to see where opposition to the coup was rooted: women, youth, labour, ethnic and religious minorities, civil society organizations (CSO), and subaltern communities of the politically disenfranchised. During the democratic interlude between military regimes, a broad range of civil society actors had sprung up to address social justice issues. The Letpadaung protests, the Myitsone Dam protests and the 2015 National Education protest each exemplified this trend. Successive strikes in the garment sector, which mostly employs women, had resulted in the 2011 Labor Organization Law. And NGOs, CSOs and community-based organizations (CBOs) addressed poverty, social justice, and community development at the grassroots level. Even subalterns, like the punk group Rebel Riot, sought to address poverty on the streets through their tiny “Food not Bombs” programme. Collectively, these civil society groups and engagements represented a broad base of mostly invisible reform that was quietly restructuring politics at the grassroots. Female garment workers were at the forefront of the labour revolts in the early weeks following the coup. They shouted, “We must resist! We have nothing to lose but our chains.” Women paved the way for other protest actions, too. Esther Ze Naw Bamwaw, minority rights activist, and Ei Thinzar Maung,22 a candidate for the Democratic Party for New Society (DPNS) in the November 2020 election, organized one of the early anti-coup marches on 6 February. That march set the tone for a movement inclusive of all ethnicities and directed towards establishing a federal democracy. Young men and women from garment factories and student unions have been at the forefront in organizing protests and other actions in Yangon. Ethnic minority members of “Generation Z” living in big cities such as Yangon and Mandalay also contributed to the enlargement and inclusiveness of the protests, connecting the movement beyond the cities to the ethnic minority areas. Ethnic youths have also lobbied their elders serving in administration in their home regions and joined with civil society groups to pressure their communities to join the anti-military resistance. Ei Thinzar Maung became the Deputy Minister of Women, Youths and Children Affairs of the National Unity Government formed on 16 April 2021. 22 8 21-J07648 01 Trends_2021-7.indd 8 28/4/21 9:34 AM