Before a Democracy Died

"Of all the challenges that Myanmar has faced over recent decades, few have been as fundamental and none have been as overlooked as land.  This fine study provides a key to understanding the country's enduring inequalities, as well as its politics, and will be essential reading to anyone wanting to chart a fresh vision of Myanmar's future."

 --Thant Myint-U, author of The Hidden History of Burma: Race, Capitalism, and the Crisis of Democracy in the 20th Century

This volume is a collection of chapters based on work within Myanmar by the authors between 2009 and 2021 while working to improve housing, land and property rights for the population. Despite the extensive application and political uptake of their work throughout the country during the brief democratic reform period of 2011-2021, and measurable progress being made, their work and that of the entire HLP community was brought to a sudden stop following the unexpected military coup in February 2021. Many of those with whom the authors worked closely on various HLP matters are no longer able to work safely on these issues in Myanmar. Others have fled the country and are now refugees, while others continue to face daily persecution and harassment by the military regime. These texts will be of great interest to scholars and activists in the region.

Scott Leckie has worked on housing, land and property rights issues in more than 80 countries, and written or edited 25 books and over 250 academic articles on various human rights issues. He is the Director of Displacement Solutions.

Dr. José María Arraiza (Madrid, 1973) has worked for the last two decades in war-torn settings focusing on improving the protection of housing, land and property rights and legal identity of displaced people, ethnic minorities and other vulnerable groups.