You are cordially invited a special seminar on June 27. The details are as follows.

Date and Time: June 27th (Mon.), 2016 15:00 – 16:30
Place: Small Meeting Room II (Room No. 331）, 3rd Floor, Inamori Foundation Memorial Building, CSEAS, Kyoto University

Speaker: Dr. Khin Mar Mar Kyi, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi Gender Research Fellow, International Gender Studies Centre at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University

Title: Gender, Violence and Democratisation in Myanmar

Abstract:
Burma/ Myanmar is slowly emerging from decades of military rule which was based, at least in part, on ideologies of the inherent superiority of the Burman Buddhist culture and militarisation. While the political situation in Myanmar is unique; the 2008 Constitution precludes Daw Aung San Suu Kyi from taking up the post of President, but in what is a striking achievement, she circumvented this attempt by the military to keep her out of power by designating her own role as ‘State Counsellor’.

Religious ideologies, patriarchal power structures and the profoundly militarised culture continue to impact on both genders particularly on women. While Myanmar is giving increasing attention to gender
inequality, there are growing violence towards women in Myanmar. There are conflict of the existing tradition of patriarchal nature of male dominance and the challenge and space provided by current opening of Myanmar, create friction on gender relations. Still, the dynamics of gender relations in the Burmese cultural landscape are poorly understood, even if the struggle between Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the military regime is well known. This paper will discuss how religious culutre, gender, and violence are interrelated and hindering democratization and why understanding of gender in Burmese cultural concept is crucial to develop a plural, democratic society based on ideals of equality, justice and social understanding.

About the speaker:
Dr. Khin Mar Mar Kyi is the inaugural Daw Aung San Suu Kyi Gender Research Fellow at theUniversity of Oxford. Dr. Mar is the winner of one of Australia’s most prestigious academic awards – ‘Excellence in Gender Research’ – for her Ph.D. She also received in 2008 Australia’s ‘Unsung Heroes’ Award and was selected as one of the ‘UN 100 women in 100 years’ award among other awards. She has previously taught as a lecturer at the Australian National University. She has also worked as a country adviser and a senior consultant in Australia.

Moderator: Yoshihiro Nakanisih, CSEAS, Kyoto University