ABSTRACT
There is an acknowledged dearth of research on associational life in Myanmar, complicated by decades-long restrictions on formal associations outside of government control (Wells & Kyaw Thu Aung, 2014). However, despite this-or perhaps even because of it, particular forms of social organizations have persisted, evolved and emerged, both in rural and urban areas, in the early part of the 21st century, occupying a space defined by religious principles, cultural traditions and contemporary resources and practice. This chapter provides the ‘colour’ and detail of the parahita organizations, enabling the reader to learn of a particular form of localized, redistributive welfare which, although in some ways resembles well-known examples of organizations of reciprocity, in other ways operates on a very different set of assumptions, animated by the Buddhist concept of altruism, parahita.
