ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the diversity of women’s agency for peace in the Kachin conflict in Myanmar. It presents a sample of political strategies and approaches developed by Kachin women who play a significant role in practical peacebuilding through their engagement in the civil society sector, in popular movements and in politics. The chapter demonstrates how these strategies of combining external and internal pressure are pursued in three central and contentious domains of political activism: land rights, women’s rights and party politics. The Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), and indeed the majority of the Kachin population, associated the ceasefire years with exploitation, discrimination, disempowerment, and increased political pressure from the central government. Back in the 1990s, the ceasefire agreement with the KIO enabled the Tatmadaw to launch an offensive against another armed group, the Karen National Union (KNU), which in turn led to the fall of Mannerplaw and the severe weakening of the KNU.
