Multiple Discourses: The Mobilization of Trauma Narratives within Burma's Transnational Advocacy Network
abstract: Since the 1988 uprising, a transnational advocacy network has formed around the issue of democracy and human rights in Burma. Within this transnational advocacy network, personal narratives of trauma have been promulgated in both international and oppositional news media and human rights r...
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ndltd-asu.edu-item-89592018-06-22T03:01:32Z Multiple Discourses: The Mobilization of Trauma Narratives within Burma's Transnational Advocacy Network abstract: Since the 1988 uprising, a transnational advocacy network has formed around the issue of democracy and human rights in Burma. Within this transnational advocacy network, personal narratives of trauma have been promulgated in both international and oppositional news media and human rights reports. My thesis critically analyzes the use of the trauma narrative for advocacy purposes by the transnational advocacy network that has emerged around Burma and reveals the degree to which these narratives adhere to a Western, individualistic meta-narrative focused on political and civil liberties. Examining the "boomerang" pattern and the concept of marketability of movements, I highlight the characteristics of the 1988 uprising and subsequent opposition movement that attracted international interest. Reflecting on the psychological aspects of constructing trauma narratives, I then review the scholarship which links trauma narratives to social and human rights movements. Using a Foucauldian approach to discourse analysis, I subsequently explain my methodology in analyzing the personal narratives I have chosen. Beyond a theoretical discussion of trauma narratives and transnational advocacy networks, I analyze the use of personal narratives of activists involved in the 1988 uprising and the emergence of Aung San Suu Kyi's life story as a compelling narrative for Western audiences. I then explore the structure of human rights reports which situate personal narratives of trauma within the framework of international human rights law. I note the differences in the construction of traumatic narratives of agency and those of victimization. Finally, using Cyclone Nargis as a case study, I uncover the discursive divide between human rights and humanitarian actors and their use of personal narratives to support different discursive constructions of the aid effort in the aftermath of the cyclone. I conclude with an appeal to a more reflexive approach to advocacy work reliant on trauma narratives and highlight feminist methodologies that have been successful in bringing marginalized narratives to the center of human rights discussions. Dissertation/Thesis Bynum, Kate Elliott (Author) Stancliff, Michael (Advisor) Friedrich, Patricia (Committee member) Vaughan, Suzanne (Committee member) Arizona State University (Publisher) Political Science Asian Studies Sociology 1988 Burma Cyclone Nargis Human Rights Reports Transnational Advocacy Network Trauma Narratives eng 71 pages M.A. Social Justice and Human Rights 2011 Masters Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/2286/R.I.8959 http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ All Rights Reserved 2011 |
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language |
English |
format |
Dissertation |
sources |
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Political Science Asian Studies Sociology 1988 Burma Cyclone Nargis Human Rights Reports Transnational Advocacy Network Trauma Narratives |
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Political Science Asian Studies Sociology 1988 Burma Cyclone Nargis Human Rights Reports Transnational Advocacy Network Trauma Narratives Multiple Discourses: The Mobilization of Trauma Narratives within Burma's Transnational Advocacy Network |
description |
abstract: Since the 1988 uprising, a transnational advocacy network has formed around the issue of democracy and human rights in Burma. Within this transnational advocacy network, personal narratives of trauma have been promulgated in both international and oppositional news media and human rights reports. My thesis critically analyzes the use of the trauma narrative for advocacy purposes by the transnational advocacy network that has emerged around Burma and reveals the degree to which these narratives adhere to a Western, individualistic meta-narrative focused on political and civil liberties. Examining the "boomerang" pattern and the concept of marketability of movements, I highlight the characteristics of the 1988 uprising and subsequent opposition movement that attracted international interest. Reflecting on the psychological aspects of constructing trauma narratives, I then review the scholarship which links trauma narratives to social and human rights movements. Using a Foucauldian approach to discourse analysis, I subsequently explain my methodology in analyzing the personal narratives I have chosen. Beyond a theoretical discussion of trauma narratives and transnational advocacy networks, I analyze the use of personal narratives of activists involved in the 1988 uprising and the emergence of Aung San Suu Kyi's life story as a compelling narrative for Western audiences. I then explore the structure of human rights reports which situate personal narratives of trauma within the framework of international human rights law. I note the differences in the construction of traumatic narratives of agency and those of victimization. Finally, using Cyclone Nargis as a case study, I uncover the discursive divide between human rights and humanitarian actors and their use of personal narratives to support different discursive constructions of the aid effort in the aftermath of the cyclone. I conclude with an appeal to a more reflexive approach to advocacy work reliant on trauma narratives and highlight feminist methodologies that have been successful in bringing marginalized narratives to the center of human rights discussions. === Dissertation/Thesis === M.A. Social Justice and Human Rights 2011 |
author2 |
Bynum, Kate Elliott (Author) |
author_facet |
Bynum, Kate Elliott (Author) |
title |
Multiple Discourses: The Mobilization of Trauma Narratives within Burma's Transnational Advocacy Network |
title_short |
Multiple Discourses: The Mobilization of Trauma Narratives within Burma's Transnational Advocacy Network |
title_full |
Multiple Discourses: The Mobilization of Trauma Narratives within Burma's Transnational Advocacy Network |
title_fullStr |
Multiple Discourses: The Mobilization of Trauma Narratives within Burma's Transnational Advocacy Network |
title_full_unstemmed |
Multiple Discourses: The Mobilization of Trauma Narratives within Burma's Transnational Advocacy Network |
title_sort |
multiple discourses: the mobilization of trauma narratives within burma's transnational advocacy network |
publishDate |
2011 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/2286/R.I.8959 |
_version_ |
1718699274896670720 |