Variegated transitions: Emerging forms of land and resource capitalism in Laos and Myanmar

TitleVariegated transitions: Emerging forms of land and resource capitalism in Laos and Myanmar
Annotated RecordAnnotated
Year of Publication2021
AuthorsKenney-Lazar M, Mark SSue
Secondary TitleEnvironment and Planning A
Volume53
Issue2
Pagination1-19
Key themesCivilSociety-Donors, FDI
Abstract

Since the mid- to late- 1980s, Laos and Myanmar (Burma) have gradually and unevenly opened their economies to capitalist relations of accumulation. Both countries have done so by granting state land concessions to private capital for resource extraction and land commodification projects, particularly since the early 2000s. Yet, resource capitalism has manifested in distinct ways in both places due to the ways in which capital has interacted with unique pre-capitalist political-economic and social relations as well as the diverse political reactions of Lao and Myanmar people to capitalist transformations. In this paper, we analyze such differences through a conceptualization of ‘variegated transitions’, an extension of the variegated capitalism framework, which investigates the political economic transitions towards capitalism in marginalized, resource extractive countries of the Global South. In Myanmar, the transition from military to democratic rule has been marked by protests and land occupations combined with center-periphery fragmentation and ongoing civil wars, all of which have led to a heavily contested process of land concession granting. In contrast, a stable, comparatively centralized political system in Laos that restrains popular protest has enabled an expanding regime of land concessions for resource extraction projects, albeit hemmed in at the edges by sporadic, localized forms of resistance and appeals to the state.
URLhttps://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0308518X20948524
Availability

Copyrighted journal article
Countries

Laos, Myanmar
Document Type

Journal Article

Annotations

Overall relevance: 

The article compares how Laos and Myanmar (Burma) have gradually and unevenly opened up their economies to resource capitalism by granting state land concessions to private capital for resource extraction and land commodification projects, particularly since the early 2000s. In doing so, the authors used the concept of ‘variegated transitions’, an extension of the variegated capitalism (VC) framework that is concerned with the diverse ways in which capitalism manifests spatially through various forms of uneven development in marginalised, resource extractive countries of the Global South. Despite some broad similarities in the political-economic transitions (e.g., from colonialism to socialism and now towards hybrid forms of capitalism), significant differences can be identified in Laos and Myanmar. Laos’ economic transition has been accompanied by relatively stable and hegemonic political control by the communist party and state. Foreign investments in land and resource extraction are largely driven by foreign investors who are centrally organized by the Lao state, leading to peasants’ land dispossession with little opportunity for restitution. In contrast, Myanmar’s economic transition has been accompanied by several rounds of political crisis and uneven democratization. Foreign investments in land and resource extraction are driven by a range of actors including the Burmese military, domestic crony companies, and ethnic armed organizations, leading to fragmented and contentious politics over land and resources.

Key Themes: 
  • FDI and land access: economic land concessions, contract farming, short term and long term renting - The theoretical framework termed ‘variegated capitalism (VC)’ was developed to explain processes and forms of uneven development within or beyond late capitalism. VC focuses on the two major types of advanced economies - the liberal market economies and the coordinated market economies of North Atlantic countries. However, the framework does not fit into the non-Western countries of the Global South that are resistant to full-scale transformation towards Western models of capitalism and liberal democracy attempts to selectively incorporate market forces into their economies, leading to unique localised forms of capitalism. In their transition from socialist economies to hybrid capitalist economies, Laos and Myanmar have witnessed the emergence of resource capitalism that has been shaped by varied political reactions. Comparative analysis on some key factors contributing to variegated capitalism in Laos and Myanmar explains how the political regimes and the reforms they have initiated shaped the manifestation of capitalism in the countries. In Laos, the unchanged and centralised political regime has enabled economic liberalisation without major popular contestation or opposition. State land concessions have been granted to foreign investors for resource extraction, causing land dispossession and displacement of local peasants. In contrast, the political and economic reforms initiated by unstable regime in Myanmar (particularly after 2011) have met with popular contestation and the opposition of various actors that pressured the state to adopt strict regulatory investment standards, especially for highly visible projects that were subject to risks of delay, renegotiation, or cancellation.
  • Civil society and donor engagement in land issues - Civil societies can play a key role in demanding land-based justice. In Myanmar, the transition from decades-long military rule to quasi-civilian rule in 2011 has expanded the space for civil society to raise their voices for land justice. Civil society activism has led to suspension of the Myitsone Dam development, which is China’s largest investment in Myanmar. In Laos, the palpable public frustration over the prospect of a large ‘Chinatown’ on the edge of Vientiane’s downtown areas has led the government to cancel the initial deal and renegotiate the granting of a land concession for a different project.
Research basis: 

The article is based on a literature review of the concepts of variegated capitalisms that has largely been employed to analyse late capitalism in advanced economies rather than political economies at the margins of global capitalism. It is also based on primary research that both authors have conducted in Laos and Myanmar over the past decades on conflicts over land, with a particular focus on the contestation of state land concessions granted to domestic and foreign investors for the development of agro-industrial plantations. Since the analytical focus of the paper is broad, the authors do not provide detailed descriptions of the primary research but rather cite it to shape their understanding and analysis of transitions to capitalism. (Provided by Nan Aye Aye Thwe)