Grassroots Special Section: 'Roots, resistance, and decoloniality: Political ecology by, for, and of Southeast Asia'. Edited by Jessica Dicarlo, Hilary Faxon, Sopheak Chann, Ming Li Yong

Territorialization-from-below: Community-rooted strategies towards public authority in Kamoethway, Myanmar

Authors

• • Naw Pe The Law naw@ifro.ku.dk Email Naw Pe The Law. (compose email, opens in email app.) Naw Pe The Law ORCID profile. (opens in new tab)
  • Global Development Studies
  • University of Copenhagen View ROR record for University of Copenhagen. (opens in new tab)
• • Carl Middleton Carl Middleton ORCID profile. (opens in new tab)
  • Faculty of Political Science
  • Chulalongkorn University View ROR record for Chulalongkorn University. (opens in new tab)

Abstract

This article analyses territorialization 'from-above' and 'from-below' in Kamoethway, Tanintharyi Region in relation to the public authorities of the Karen National Union (KNU) and changing Myanmar governments. Fieldwork in Karen villages of the Kamoethway area details how community-based organizations and community leaders organized a social movement, documented situated knowledge, and claimed rights to govern territory locally including resources and land, which we term 'territorialization-from-below'. We analyze how strategies of resistance, consent and co-option empowered Kamoethway communities after the 2012 ceasefire. However, following the 2021 coup, while KNU's public authority expanded, community-based activism reduced due to the ongoing conflict, KNU security policies, and restrictions on civil freedoms.

Keywords: Territorialization, Public authority, community empowerment, resource governance, Tanintharyi Region

How to Cite: Law, N. P. & Middleton, C. (2026) “Territorialization-from-below: Community-rooted strategies towards public authority in Kamoethway, Myanmar”, Journal of Political Ecology. 33(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.2458/jpe.8618