Myanmar: Coup and Resistance ft. Geoff Aung (Part 1)

Red Star Over Asia

In February of 2021, Myanmar's military leadership annulled the results of a general election and removed the National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Aung San Suu Kyi, from power. Popular resistance immediately erupted in response to the coup, but the military has responded with an increasingly violent crackdown.

The military has dominated politics in Myanmar for decades, with NLD and Suu Kyi having long been the darlings of Western liberals (the latter enjoying an almost saintly media status for a time). But what is really going on here?

Geoff Aung joins us this week to discuss the coup, growing resistance, as well as the broader political context that set the stage for these events. We cover a lot of ground - everything from how Myanmar's colonial past still haunts the present to the history of Burmese left.

Geoff Aung is a PhD candidate in Anthropology at Columbia University, with a research focus on Southern Myanmar. You can follow him on Twitter @Rgnhardliner

Also check out some of his recent writings:

Keep the Streets: Coup, Crisis and Capital in Myanmar: https://spectrejournal.com/keep-the-streets-coup-crisis-and-capitalism-in-myanmar/

Dead Generations: https://nplusonemag.com/online-only/online-only/dead-generations/

And for more general background on Myanmar/Burma:

https://newleftreview.org/issues/ii60/articles/mary-callahan-myanmar-s-perpetual-junta

(This is part 1 of a 2 part episode, so stay tuned for part 2 next week!)