Studies of Karen activism along the Thailand-Burma border can often suffer from theoretical limitations that prevent us from fully comprehending their findings. To address this shortcoming, this book investigates an distinct social relations space – Thailand-Burma borderlands – which intersect with three modes of Karen activism.
Instead of viewing Karen as passive victims of military oppression, this book highlights their agency and forms of everyday resistance.
1. Social media
An emerging online activism movement known as Karens Going Wild (KGW) involves videos showing Karens (mainly women ) engaging in extreme acts of racism that they commit, then posting these clips onto Instagram pages like @karensgoingwilds.
Initial reactions to Karens seemed innocuous enough; after all, they fit right in with other internet memes such as Grumpy Cat and Ice Bucket Challenge. Yet as this trend has gained steam and evolved over time, its meaning has become far more severe – it now serves as a symbol for white female racism.
State and humanitarian discourses create a narrative of Karen persecution and displacement that presents them as passive recipients, unable to shape their circumstances themselves. Humanitarian practices reinforce this victim narrative by universalising refugees into one category known as’refugees’ while simultaneously abstracting them from specific political, historical, and cultural contexts – making them dependent upon institutions like churches or humanitarians to provide food, shelter and education services.
But, in spite of these seemingly conflicting forces of persecution and aid, Karens find ways to challenge this narrative through their own practices of solidarity and resistance – shaping not only their borderlands space but also how they interact with one another as well as Burma itself.
One of the most effective means of engaging with their home country is through social media and the internet, creating a network of connections among Karens living in both countries through this connection. Social media allows Karens from America to connect with those across their borders in Burma – sharing stories of struggles as well as celebrating past moments of joy – sharing ideas, resources and even food between both nations.
Karens value these connections because it gives them a powerful means of conveying their resistance against structures of governance that attempt to silence their political agency. Karens do this through both globalised and localized forms of activism which connect them with fellow activists worldwide as well as with family and friends in Burma.
2. Support groups
Angry Karens provides a safe space online where individuals who feel frustrated can express themselves anonymously in a safe and anonymous environment. While this does not replace direct dialogue, it can serve as an important support network; those able to share experiences can collaborate to find constructive and effective solutions to personal and professional challenges together.
This process empowers them to challenge state discourses of persecution and reintegration as well as engage in acts of resistance that demonstrate their agency as active political subjects. Through activism such as this one, those engaged can also create an alternative interpretation of borderlands which sits in tension with dominant state narratives.
These acts of resistance include using social media to amplify and mobilize their voices, reinstating Karen culture and identity through practices that prioritise connections to home, and taking up activism that challenges a conventional’refugee story’ narrative.
Whilst most Karens living as refugees reside on the Thai side of the border, a significant portion reside in Burma – this necessitates close cooperation among organizations on both sides.
Facilitating this is the fact that most of these organizations are non-governmental organisations (NGOs). NGO efforts focus on meeting immediate needs such as food and shelter for displaced Karens.
These NGOs are heavily influenced by a humanitarian narrative that portrays Karens who have been uprooted as being victims, needy individuals who welcome external help while remaining silent subjects. Unfortunately, this perspective prevents displaced Karens from engaging in activism that addresses the root causes of their displacement.
This can be seen both in their representation in media coverage, and how they engage with local communities. One group in Pennsylvania used memes such as ‘Karens for Hire’ video to inject energy and drive into traditional consumer advocacy efforts by emphasizing their ability to get products back from stores such as Dairy Queen, Target and Walmart. They have even been featured on local news programs as well as receiving attention from Elliott Advocacy and Clark Howard’s Consumer Action Center.
3. Online forums
Online forums provide an effective forum for sharing information and deliberating issues. Many have informal rules in place that guide discussions, which often take off quickly as participants share opinions and perspectives with one another. While this can present several challenges – such as potential miscommunication or lack of empathy between forum members – this community spirit allows displaced Karens to feel connected.
Displaced Karens living in borderlands networks often form bonds of solidarity among themselves and generate more informal political power based on contested social relations, in contrast to state aspirations for control and administration. This informal power is furthered by processes of cultural recovery which emphasize connection to their homeland (whether physical or metaphoric) as well as fluid movement of ideas, people, cultures, and identities across national borders.
As states strive to contain and control these borderlands with heavy militarization in Burma and regulation in Thailand that has left these borderlands susceptible to exploitation, arrest and torture, these connections to home are invaluable in combatting state aspirations for control. Cultural recovery processes enable displaced Karens to engage in activism that challenges the dominant narrative of an abstracted refugee story that marginalises them by abstracting away specific political, historical and cultural realities that impact them directly.
Forum participants utilize them to document their experiences and express their emotions, hopes, and frustrations. This may include feelings of belonging to a community that supports one another as well as social interactions such as peer encouragement and friendly encounters; expressions of feeling lost without direction or hope while seeking support; testimonials to the benefits of the forum itself and more.
These experiences illuminate the borderlands as an active and transformative space, characterised by three modes of social practice conducted by displaced Karens: activism and resistance campaigns, solidarity networks and cultural recovery processes. This process manifests through regular crossings back into Burma for visits with family and friends as well as seeking work or training opportunities or services needed as well as through an influx of ideas shared on the Internet and community organisations in Thailand.
4. Friends and family
Karen communities on both sides of the border have developed an international network of friendship and support that spans international borders and employs various mechanisms to advance social engagement and political claims. In many instances, this friendship and support contributes to subverting the dominant narrative about Karen as passive recipients of aid; instead it fosters their sense of empowerment when speaking up about persecution or displacement experiences of their own accord.
For Karen refugees living in camps like Ler Per Her, their everyday forms of resistance and agency are key to maintaining their autonomy and power while remaining engaged with political solutions. The concept of everyday resistance (see Scott 1985, KHRG 2008 and Cusano 2001) serves as an effective way of acknowledging vulnerable populations’ efforts to subvert military and political power on an everyday basis.
Displaced Karen populations living in Thailand-Burma borderlands face particular obstacles when it comes to establishing and upholding connections to their homeland and asserting political claims. Current systems of governance designed to contain and control Karen populations through mechanisms of segregation and exclusion reinforce this by depicting them as victims of humanitarian crises requiring passive aid recipients.
Still, Karen refugees have proven adept at building their own networks of solidarity in spite of these limitations. These networks consist of both outward-bound connections across international borders – visiting friends and family as well as accessing services in the outside world – as well as inward connections within Burma via mechanisms like advocacy, international networking and new media platforms.
Displaced Karen living in camps like Ler Per Her can use these mechanisms to advance their political claims and challenge the narrative of being refugees, including through media outlets like interviews, articles and blogs. Such coverage helps bring attention to their struggles while giving their voices a platform from which to be heard.
