“The Power Structure of Burma:Civil-Military Relations in Ne Win Regime,1962-1988” (Kyoto University Press. 2009)

Yoshihiro Nakanishi (Research Fellow, Area Studies Center, JETRO-IDE)

I am most honored that my book was selected to receive the Award, and I would like to express my thanks to the Foundation’s Board of Trustees, the selection committee, and the staff. There were many people who helped me in the process of research and writing, and I would also like to thank them.
The book is about the political history of Burma (Myanmar). In this country, the military regime has continued for about 50 years. Why has it persisted? To this simple question, I tried to provide an answer, focusing on the state reformation during the socialist period (1962-1988). The book examines how a dictator, Gen. Ne Win, built the military-centered power structure in the name of revolution and argues that the “revolution” provided the historical basis of the ongoing military regime in Burma.
Few studies on Burma politics have been conducted, mainly because of the difficult research environment in Burma. When I started my project in graduate school, I do not care about it. Rather, I thought that it would be a good chance to be a pioneer. However, when I started my fieldwork in Yangon, it made me lose my way. I was not sure what arguments I should criticize, what materials I could collect and where they were. By trial and error, I continued to do research. It was lucky that I could access the military archives, though I had to copy the documents by hand. I collected reference books and rare historical materials in used book shops, though I had to visit the shops every weekend and make friends with the shop owners. Some interviews with former military officers were available, though half of my interview offers were rejected outright.
The type of fieldwork that I conducted has not been fashionable recently in social science. Of course, I believe that methodological sophistication is necessary for the development of social science. But the methodological selection depends on your question. I was certain that, in dealing with countries like Burma, you cannot deeply understand its politics without “classic” fieldwork. A lot of works in the field have proved this so far. In addition, out of life in the field sometimes comes the moment of seeing something there that I had never seen before.
Receiving this award encourages me to keep on conducting Area Studies, and I hope that I can live up to the expectations that accompany this prize in my future research. I also hope that this will encourage other young scholars who are struggling to study developing countries in difficult situations.

Profile
Research Fellow, Area Studies Center, Institute of Developing Economies (2008-)
Date of Birth: 28 Dec 1977 (Hyogo, JAPAN)
Ph.D. Kyoto University (2007)
B.A. Tohoku University (2001)
Junior Research Fellow, CSEAS, Kyoto University (2007-2008)
Visiting Research Fellow of SEAMEO-CHAT in Myanmar (Burma) (2003-2005)