The Idea of Freedom in Burma and the Political Thought of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2888322 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Josef Silverstein (Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1996 |
| Volume | 69 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 211 |
| Publication date | 1996-01-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Pacific Affairs (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0030-851X • E-ISSN: 1715-3379 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/2760725 |
| OpenAlex | W2328390457 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 7 |
THERE is a serious political struggle in progress in Burma today which turns on the idea of freedom. Since September 18, 1988, when the military violently suppressed a peaceful democratic revolution, its leaders, organized as the State Law and Order Restoration Committee (SLORC), have ruled by martial law. Although SLORC allowed a free and fair election on May 27, 1990 and the National League for Democracy (NLD) was chosen overwhelmingly to form a new parliament and establish democratic rule, the decision of the people was ignored and the parliament was not allowed to form. Instead, SLORC proceeded to perpetuate its rule by pressuring delegates it selected to a national convention it formed to write a constitution it dictated, to insure its goals would be achieved.' Do the Burmese people have the right to decide how to be governed and by whom, or do those who seized power by force have the right to construct the political forms, make the rules and govern as they see fit? Is freedom, in the broadest sense, a part of Burmese thought and tradition or is it a relatively recent addition, claimed only by the Westernized intelligentsia and not by the majority of the people? Is freedom individual or collective? These and other questions are not new; they were raised during the Burmese quest for independence and, later, in the struggle against authoritarianism of both the Left and the Right. When given the opportunity through free and open elections, an overwhelming majority of Burmese uphold the standard of freedom and popular rule against those who would deny it
Ancient history · Political science · Politics · Asian Geopolitics and Ethnography · History · Law
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Love Your Enemies
Progressive Nationalism and Female Rule in Post-colonial South and Southeast Asia
Peace profile
Aung San Suu Kyi and the Rhetoric of Social Protest in Burma
| Citations per year | 0.3 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2003 - 2019 (17) |
| Highly cited | No |