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For decades, the outside world mostly knew Myanmar as the site of a valiant human rights struggle against an oppressive military regime, predominantly through the figure of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi. And yet, a closer look at Burmese grassroots sentiments reveals a significant schism between elite human rights cosmopolitans and subaltern Burmese subjects maneuvering under brutal and negligent governance. While elites have endorsed human rights logics, subalterns are ambivalent, often going so far as to refuse rights themselves, seeing in them no more than empty promises. Such alternative perspectives became apparent during Burma's much-lauded decade-long "transition" from military rule that began in 2011, a period of massive change that saw an explosion of political and social activism.
How then do people conduct politics when they lack the legally and symbolically stabilizing force of "rights" to guarantee their incursions against injustice? In this book, Elliott Prasse-Freeman documents grassroots political activists who advocate for workers and peasants across Burma, covering not only the so-called "democratic transition" from 2011-2021, but also the February 2021 military coup that ended that experiment and the ongoing mass uprising against it. Taking the reader from protest camps, to flop houses, to prisons, and presenting practices as varied as courtroom immolation, occult cursing ceremonies, and land reoccupations, Rights Refused shows how Burmese subaltern politics compel us to reconsider how rights frameworks operate everywhere.
"In this thoughtful exploration of the brutal political realities of present-day Myanmar, Elliott Prasse-Freeman unpacks the various understandings of human rights that both direct and bedevil attempts to instigate democratic reform. Noting that external observers have repeatedly misread Burmese conceptions of the very concept of rights, he offers an incisive corrective to such cultural tone-deafness with his nuanced analysis of Burmese activism and its often surprisingly diverse goals. His argument is a valuable lesson for all those who blithely assume that all meanings and values are inherently universal and thereby run the risk, in Prasse-Freeman's telling phrase, of "mocking the miserable." —Michael Herzfeld, Harvard University
"Rights Refused is a theoretically ambitious and ethnographically rich study of social activism, refusal and resistance in Myanmar. Prasse-Freeman lucidly captures how activists in specific local contexts reconfigure human rights discourses to challenge oppressive state power, and his insightful analysis reshapes our understanding of rights are operating in the contemporary world." —Shannon Speed, University of California, Los Angeles
"Rights Refused transcends the confines of a mere book; it serves as a vital expedition, inviting readers to engage in a profound journey of empathy and introspection. Prasse-Freeman's humanisation of the activists and individuals at the heart of the struggle invites readers to step into their shoes and comprehend the immense challenges they face." —Thanapat Chatinakrob, London School of Economics Review of Books
"Prasse-Freeman's study of activist organising in Myanmar paints a nuanced picture of the various ways in which opposition to state violence is able to draw on a variety of tactics and strategies.... While the subject matter is about Myanmar, this is a book that will be of interest to scholars and activists in any context, offering new ways to think critically about the role of activism in relation to the state." —Will Hannah, Journal of Contemporary Asia
"I highly recommend this provocative text. The ideal audience would be graduate students and scholars of Southeast Asia, those interested in power and praxis, and anyone who wants to immerse themselves in an ethnography that transports you to a place of improvisational politics so potent it will haunt your dreams." —Julie Stewart, Social Forces
"Rights Refused: Grassroots Activism and State Violence in Myanmar is an ambitious attempt to theorize Myanmar's protest movement, documenting its struggles, and making sure it remains heard and recorded for our present and in history. The book is one that will be read decades from now, leaving people wondering why not more was done to support the individuals that Prasse-Freeman spent years to get to know and skillfully shadow, in their struggles (however conceptualized) against a brutal dictatorship." —Kristina Simion, Law & Society Review
"Modern activism in Myanmar has too often been portrayed, in popular media and academia alike, through a black and white, fairy tale-like lens. A brutal military regime facing resistance from activists who are 'fighting for their rights'. Elliott Prasse-Freeman's excellent book Rights Refused: Grassroots Activism and State Violence in Myanmar dismantles this fairy tale in crucial ways, providing rich and intimate ethnographic insights into the lives of activists." —Tamas Wells, Asian Studies Review
"Rights Refused is a must-read for anyone interested in Myanmar's politics, human rights, postcolonial states, political theory, and activism. The book's theoretical nuances, methodological finesse, and humanity make it a valuable contribution to the academic landscape." —Rheea Saggar, Pacific Affairs
"Elliot Prasse-Freeman's Rights Refused not only builds on a tradition of scholarly interest in human rights in Myanmar..., but transforms it, cautioning human rights and development scholars and practitioners who may over emphasize the power of 'knowing one's rights' in catalysing political change." —Elizabeth L. Rhoads & Pawel Ostern, Journal of Development Studies
"Rights Refused is a rich ethnographic work in which the author vividly describes his ethnographic encounters and converses with his interlocutors through every chapter. Prasse-Freeman intertwines a vast amount of data and guides the reader through these broad and multilayered fields on refusing rights, rights as opportunities, state violence, and grassroots activism. Overall, Elliott Prasse-Freeman wrote a powerful and illuminating ethnography that deserves wide recognition within the academic discourse on Myanmar/Burma, human rights, and activism in an increasingly polarised and hostile political landscape." —Carolin Hirsch, Anthropos
"Rights Refused is an important book that illuminates state-society dynamics in Myanmar in rich empirical detail. The book's discussion of blunt biopolitics and its deep dive into the concept of refusal make a significant contribution to the study of the state and contentious politics." —Jae Hyun Park, SOJOURN
"By thinking purposefully with his interlocutors, Prasse-Freeman unveils the multiple truths of Burmese activism, making possible a nuanced and situated understanding of refusal." —Nicole Venker, Political Geography
"Elliott Prasse-Freeman's excellent Rights Refused covers enormous swaths of theoretical ground and is supported by an array of data from his fieldwork both before and after Myanmar's 2021 military coup." —Matt Walton, Political Geography
"Prasse-Freeman's writing is both profoundly intellectual and highly personal as he reflects on his experiences working with Burmese activists. This gives the book a unique voice that combines theoretical insights with the raw realities of life under an authoritarian regime." —Aye Lei Tun, Political Geography
1. Variegated Violence
2. Living Refusal
3. Plow Protests
4. Cartoons, Curses, and the Corpus
5. Taking Rights, Seriously
6. Rights in Desperation
Conclusion: Rights Erosion and Refusal beyond Burma