This book gives a different perspective on what we think we see as ‘Myanmar’, and in doing so, opens up new possibilities for futures which are not simply reconstructions of the past.

The post-2021 coup crisis in Myanmar has proved to be perplexing and intractable, resistant to conventional analysis and approaches. By using assemblage theory to challenge dominant narratives, this volume offers a fresh perspective, both unmasking the illusory nature of much that is taken for granted, and pointing to new potential trajectories and sites of possibility for meaningful intervention

Rather than advocating a re-assembling or restoration of “Myanmar” based on previous historical forms, this volume argues instead for acceptance that many of the “given” realities are inherently contingent, complex, and unstable. Whilst initially unsettling and uncomfortable, by enabling a more grounded explication of reality, this perspective opens up pathways to alternative future arrangements, including a range of “post-state” possibilities.