Transforming inter-communal relations in and around Myanmar

Description of impact

Since 2018 Dr Fumagalli has led projects that are increasing understanding and transforming conflictual dynamics between ethnic and religious communities in Myanmar and neighbouring Thailand. He collaborates with colleagues in Scotland, international and non-governmental organizations and local artists in Myanmar and Thailand to co-design and jointly run participatory workshops which use forms of art to foster dialogue and enhance the participants’ understanding of other faiths and ethnicities. The co-produced research and activities have improved deeply entrenched inter-communal hostilities. His research and engagement activities have also improved hitherto poorly understood rationales for, and regional impacts of, aid distribution among NGO and policy communities in Scotland and the UK.

Who is affected

Fumagalli’s research and work with affected communities and external stakeholders is oriented towards three key forms of impact.

Improving knowledge and opinions of Myanmar Muslim minorities
In participatory arts-led workshops held in Yangon (2019), Chiang Mai (2022, 2025) and Mae Sot (2025), Fumagalli and colleagues deployed community-led activities to enhance the knowledge of faiths other than one's own and increase cultural participation and inclusivity. The workshops (co-designed and jointly led with academics, local artists and NGOs in Myanmar and Thailand): (a) explored the experiences of inclusion and exclusion among the Rohingya and other Muslim communities originating from Myanmar; (b) examined how visions of and steps towards peace differ among communities; and (c) shed light on how relations across ethnic and religious lines have evolved since the 2021 coup. The main participants and beneficiaries were individuals involved in the anti-coup and anti-military resistance, originally from (born in) Myanmar and currently residing in Thailand. Historically, Thailand’s northern and western provinces (especially Mae Sot, Chiang Mai) and more generally the Myanmar-Thai borderlands have been home to Myanmar community-based organizations and more generally efforts to organize and deliver relief efforts across the border and serve as home for many anti-authoritarian organizations. Drawing on extensive and multi-sited research in and around Myanmar since 2013, the project promoted the positive transformation of inter-ethnic and inter-religious relations among Myanmar’s communities currently living in Thailand [C2; C3; C4]. A total of 12 pre- and post-workshop surveys (conducted in April and May 2025) and individual interviews evidenced positive improvements in the knowledge of and opinions towards Muslim minorities in Myanmar among workshop participants (members of the anti-military resistance and pro-democracy activists) [C2; interviews to be completed later].

Changing perceptions of the Spring revolution in Myanmar: Fostering intercommunal dialogue
In a second and related strand of activity, Fumagalli and collaborators have sought to foster dialogue between pro-democracy groups as a means of producing more inclusive understandings of the Spring revolution (especially the role played by Muslim minority groups) and its future possibilities. The co-led and co-produced workshops have been demonstrated to be valuable tools in transforming relations between communities from hostile to positive, contributing to shape local and international understanding of the resistance movements and their internal complexities. Future engagement and impact activities will be structured around existing community festivities (such as religious festivals) which provide valuable opportunities to demonstrate cultural heritage and practices between Muslim minority and local Thai communities. This can lead to a shift in interactions between Muslim and non-Muslim communities from sporadic and conflictual to more regular, contributing to more positive relations and greater intercommunal dialogue. Additionally, the arts-led workshops challenge assumptions about marginalization and powerlessness surrounding some of Myanmar’s most widely-written about and yet poorly researched communities. Impactful change in the relations between communities could be evidenced through more extensive and detailed surveys and testimonials from participants.

Targeting aid more effectively (under development)
A third area of potential impactful change targets the aid and policy communities in Scotland and the wider UK. Understanding why and how aid is distributed is vital to not only tailoring assistance more effectively and to those in greater need, but also because a poorly designed and implemented policy can do more harm than good, entrenching pre-existing inequalities and thus contributing rather than mitigating polarization and inequalities. Future engagement with aid providers and relevant Scottish and UK government departments is intended to help shape public policy by enhancing awareness of Myanmar’s local dynamics and areas of meaningful change resulting from more targeted aid and aid distribution. Another area of long-term impact revolves around securing the inclusion of Myanmar in the list of countries mentioned in Scottish government policy as priority recipients of aid.

Narrative

Myanmar is home to some of the world’s longest-running conflicts. Nearly four years after the 2021 military coup, the people of Myanmar remain caught in mutually reinforcing crises of war, mass forced displacement and humanitarian needs. The opposition to the military has been framed around the language of ‘revolution’ (the anti-coup pro-democracy movement refers to the events as Nway Oo Tawhlanyay, or Spring Revolution), promising a more inclusive society. The situation on the ground remains complex and constantly evolving, due to shifting battlegrounds and alliances, the fragmentation of the country’s sovereignty, and the emergence of new hybrid governance arrangements and peace-making actors often working at cross-purposes. All these changes notwithstanding, debates over a future peaceful and post-military Myanmar are still primarily confined to the members of the 135 officially recognised ‘national races’ (taingyintha) with the so-called ‘unofficial minorities’ (including the Rohingya, the Chinese and Nepali communities) excluded from citizenship and at the margins of Myanmar’s societal fabric.

Impact status	In preparation
Impact date	1 Sept 2017
Category of impact	Social Impact, Public Discourse Impact, Practitioner Impact
Impact level	Planning or developing - early stage