Failed riots:
Successful conflict prevention in four Myanmar cities
Matthew J Walton, Matt Schissler & Phyu Phyu Thi
M.MAS Working Paper 1:21
St Antony’s College
Abstract
Collective violence between Buddhists and Muslims has taken place in nearly every state and region of
Myanmar over the last five years. Yet, such violence has not occurred in the overwhelming majority of
towns and villages across the country. Research on the production of collective violence suggests that there
is much to be learned by examining times and places where the warning signs for riotous violence are
present yet conflict does not escalate. This paper presents four such case studies, situations in which interreligious riots were expected or feared but then did not occur. While we do not seek to conclusively
demonstrate the counterfactual that actions by individuals in these cases prevented riots from breaking out,
we believe that even partial descriptions of each case can help us to identify some shared characteristics
and important insights for those working to prevent inter-religious violence and build peace in Myanmar.
Based on an analysis of these cases, we offer conclusions related to: (1) the individuals and groups
involved in the conflicts that made up each case; (2) the broader framing of the conflicts; (3) the kinds of
competing arguments made by those attempting to prevent violence; and (4) concerns about forms of
violence left unaddressed by these interventions.
Introduction ...................................................................................................................................................... 2
Methodology .................................................................................................................................................... 3
Case studies ...................................................................................................................................................... 5
Case study 1 ................................................................................................................................................. 5
Case study 2 ................................................................................................................................................. 8
Case study 3 ............................................................................................................................................... 11
Case study 4 ............................................................................................................................................... 13
Conclusions .................................................................................................................................................... 15
Contests and actors ..................................................................................................................................... 15
Religious framings, from conflict to violence............................................................................................ 17
Competing arguments ................................................................................................................................ 18
Recognizing other types of violence .......................................................................................................... 20
Bibliography ................................................................................................................................................... 23
1
This working paper has been produced by the Myanmar Media and Society (M.MAS) project, a
partnership between the Programme on Modern Burmese Studies at St Antony’s College, University of
Oxford and the Myanmar ICT for Development Organization, and funded by a grant from the National
Endowment for Democracy. This research has been presented at an academic conference in Chiang Mai,
Thailand, and in private briefings for NGOs and government organizations inside and outside of Myanmar.
We appreciate the feedback we have received. We would also like to thank Emily Speers Mears for her
contributions to the case studies in the paper and several additional colleagues who provided feedback.