2017/10/02 by Renaud Egreteau · 1 citation
Social Sciences · #Asian Geopolitics and Ethnography #Islamic Studies and History #Global Maritime and Colonial Histories #Parliament #Nationalism #Legislature #Politics #Independence (probability theory) #State (computer science) #National identity #Colonialism #Decolonization #Sociology #Pride #Power (physics) #Political economy #Political science #Gender studies #Law #Media studies
paper · doi:10.1080/14662043.2017.1323401
openalex publication_date 2017/10/02 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2025/11/06
This article focuses on the contested, and frequently postponed, construction of a new parliament house in postcolonial Myanmar. Since the late colonial period, the country’s legislative bodies have convened in four different buildings, three located in the former capital Yangon and the latest one in Naypyitaw. Drawing on legislative proceedings and media reports, this study interrogates the relationship between decolonisation, national identity, state-building, and public architecture in post-independence Myanmar. It suggests that the commissioning and construction of a new legislative house has always served a dual objective: projecting state power and national pride in both Myanmar’s early postcolonial and later post-junta political contexts, whilst symbolising a sense of nationhood grounded on the representational ideals of the dominant and ruling ethnic Bamar elites.