ABSTRACT
Myanmar's growth model remains dependent on natural resource extraction, a phenomenon which in comparative cases has led to marked increases in inequality. This chapter discusses Myanmar's political economy and focuses on facets that prevented both grossly unequal conditions from developing and class-consciousness from forming. It describes the political economy, and elaborates the four challenges: highly resource-extractive growth model; agrarian displacement; few good jobs to reabsorb displaced labourers; and inadequate or eroding safety nets. The chapter also discusses perceptions of class and inequality in the country. The transition from austere faux-socialism to authoritarian capitalism created new conceptions of opportunity and value, particularly pertaining to land, with significant consequences for inequality. The chapter also focuses on: forces of dispossession, arrested 'structural transformation', and few opportunities for average people to acquire the human capital necessary to participate in a growing economy.
