Nicholas Farrelly - Sittwe 2013

On 15-16 March 2013 the Australian National University’s Department of Political and Social Change will, once again, host the Myanmar/Burma Update Conference. Through all of the long, hard years of Myanmar’s dictatorship and pro-democracy struggles the conference sought to explore issues relevant to the country’s society, politics and economy. It has always sought to present explicitly “current affairs” analysis. The Updates have also, over the years, led to a long list of edited publications.

With all of the changes, both good and ill, that have occurred in Myanmar since the last Update in 2011 this year’s event promises to be particularly notable. A range of Myanmar, international and Australian scholars have been invited to present their latest work on the process of democratisation, and wider political, economic and social changes. There will be Andrew Selth on the police, Sean Turnell on the economy and U Oo Hla Saw on problems in Rakhine State. And that’s just on the second day!

New Mandala readers wanting to keep up-to-date with the event should check out the conference website. You can register to attend here.