authoritative- and allocative power are then visible in this process. Authoritative power he
refers to the government controlling what and who can enter and work in the country, opening
and closing the borders, when the people have access, so on and so forth. Allocative power is
then the companies controlling the devices sold and the software they are delivered with, at
the end affecting the outcome and position of Zawgyi. These forms of power will be
reproduced in cycles of structuration in which the participating actors (people using Zawgyi)
will be as important as the dimensions of resources (the government and the companies)
(Stones, 2005, pp. 73-74). This tells us that there is a form of structuration and different forms
of power-levels traceable in Yangon today.
Who Wants to Make the Change?
It is now clear how Zawgyi holds its positions amongst users, and why. As mention earlier,
there are people, like Chit, who wants to use Unicode. Who are these people? What is their
motivation for using Unicode rather than Zawgyi? Win´s quote about the taste of a poem
captures the essence of the frustration among most pro-Unicode people I talked to; the lack of
experience, the closed off-ness, the anti-globalization politics from the government and all the
technical and practical sides of the problem that have already been discussed. We also know
that many people are not aware of or do not think about this issue at all. Nonetheless, many
people from different backgrounds are waiting for a satisfying solution to make a change for
everyone.
The pro-Unicode group consists mostly of people like Win,
educated persons that work offshore, or Chit who attends a
business school or Thura, who is educated within technology
and innovation. Several examples could have been mentioned,
with these common character traits. There seems to be a link
between higher education and the wish to make a change to
Unicode. Most of my contacts who already communicate with
foreigners, like myself, see the benefits of using Unicode and
how it would simplify processes in everyday life as well as in
working life. This includes people working within
development, particularly technological development like
programmers and/or people who have a specific interest in
technology, like my friend Dedan. Through conversations, my
impression is that most local
Figure V – Conversation with Win, April
2019
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