Bordering Humanitarians—Politics, Order, and Change among Women’s Rights Activists on the Thai-Burmese Border

Keywords: Borderlands, humanitarian, refugee, gender violence
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Tuesday
Session Start / End Time: 3/1/2022 11:20 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 3/1/2022 12:40 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 28

Abstract

Increasingly, border zones reflect a complex layering of governance technologies when it comes to precarious mobile populations. This includes the apparatus of border enforcement and other state institutions. As well, migrants in border spaces are often the target of both capital in search of low-wage labor and humanitarian NGOs aiding the displaced. This paper offers an analysis of discourse in relation to the latter in the context of aid work among Burmese displaced in Thailand, especially regarding the humanitarian work of women’s empowerment. Based on qualitative research in 2017 and 2019 in Thailand, I ask in this paper how the language of “empowerment” linked to women’s rights operates in migrant communities, and what this means for the possibility of political change for those migrants. I center varied interpretations of gender justice and empowerment among the migrant activists and service providers with whom I have spoken over the years. Situating the global movements related to gender justice and the practices of the humanitarian industry within the context of capital accumulation, the paper reveals the tendencies for such forms of intervention to reproduce the neoliberal emphasis on individualized biowelfare, self-care, and self-protection. I analyze local activists’ notions about what is needed to achieve a level of gender justice for Burmese women on the border and in Myanmar, drawing comparison between their discourse of social change and migrants’ own comments about how they interpret the role of humanitarian efforts to empower women and advocate for equality.