The Media Discourse of Land Grabbing and Resistance During Myanmar’s Legal Reformation: The Monywa Copper Mine

This study is conducted using a legal and an in-text media study approach in order to deconstruct the discourse of land grabbing around the Monywa Copper Mine. Its aim is to analyze the discourse surrounding the resistance to expansion and to shed light on the current trends and any new opportunities that may exist in reforming Myanmar. To this end, we explore the limits of local resistance and draw lessons that can be applied to the increasing cases of land grabbing around the country. The expansion of the Monywa copper mine, the nation’s largest, located on the Letpadaung mountain range, north of Naypidaw, Myanmar, affects some 26 villages in the area and creates further concerns over land grabbing. Mining operations in the area have been growing since the 1980s, the project being the result of a joint investment by the government and international extraction companies. Similar projects on other ranges nearby have left the surrounding areas polluted and unproductive. Since July 2012, the local communities surrounding the Monywa copper mines have been protesting the rush of recent land grabbing, “insufficient” compensation and the environmental damage related to the project. Their resistance gained considerable momentum, peaking in November 2012 and escalating in clashes with local authorities, but diminishing with the launching of an investigative committee, a benchmark achievement. Against the backdrop of Myanmar’s legal reformation, these activities are both shaping and being shaped by the shifting political, institutional and social currents of the country.