Buddhism Besieged: Anti-Muslim Narratives and the Emergence of a 'Securitising Alliance' in Myanmar's Political Transition from 2010-15

Abstract

Between 2010-15, Myanmar underwent significant changes as its former military regime initiated processes of democratisation and liberalisation. Yet, at the same time, the country witnessed an upsurge in anti-Muslim discourse and violence. This thesis examines the recent anti-Muslim developments in Myanmar as a case of securitisation in a context of political transition. While securitisation processes are often researched in Western liberal democratic contexts, their functioning and purpose in non-democratic contexts remain radically under-researched, whereas this thesis argues that the securitisation of Muslims in Myanmar must be understood in terms of the particular threats and opportunities generated by the context of political reform. Through a careful analysis of the securitisation process’ development, this thesis seeks to understand how the political transition facilitated the growth of anti-Muslim discourse and violence, and gather insights into the factors that contributed to the securitising actors’ success in convincing Myanmar’s Buddhist population of the presence of a ‘Muslim threat’. In doing so, this thesis moreover exposes the strong securitising potential of religious actors and uncovers a so far neglected phenomenon in securitisation research: the occurrence of strategic collusion between different securitising actors. This thesis introduces the concept ‘securitising alliance’ to better grasp and theorise this phenomenon.