Youth, Community, and Democracy in India, Myanmar, and Thailand

This book provides a comprehensive understanding of the struggles of youth in India, Myanmar, and Thailand towards the creation of a freer, more inclusive, plural, and equal society. Chapter contributions in the book include analytical explanations and insightful debates on key issues, progress, and challenges, by a team of international and local researchers. The world is currently witnessing a surge in innovative, networked, and technology-driven freedom movements across Asian societies. Youth and community-driven initiatives in India, Myanmar, and Thailand are being adapted and localized to foster much-needed development, human security, stability, and social progress in a responsible, objective, and selfless manner. These movements, characterized by the unwavering participation of youth including Gen Z, are being continuously tested and implemented across Asian societies, highlighting a promising trend in the evolution of grassroots social movements. In this context, this book explores the strengths of South/Southeast Asia, examining grassroots changes through various case studies, and the emergence of broader possibilities for societal transformation across multiple chapters. Chapter contributors address several critical issues, including the spirit and practice of the responsibility to protest that drives youth uprisings against authoritarian regimes, the struggles of highland communities, environmental justice, resistance movements, anti-coup efforts, generational change, peace prospects, democratic foreign policy, and grassroots democracy. The book serves as a valuable resource for students, policy analysts, and anyone seeking a comprehensive understanding of the nature, processes, and challenges faced by youth for their societies. Chosein Yamahata, a Professor at the Graduate School of Policy Studies at Aichi Gakuin University, Japan, coordinates the Academic Diplomacy Project (ADP) and the Burma Review and Challenges International Forum (BRACIF). His most recent co-edited volumes include ASEAN and Regional Actors in the Indo-Pacific (2023), Myanmar’s Changing Political Landscape: Old and New Struggle (2023), and Demystifying Myanmar’s Transition and Political Crisis (2022). Makiko Takeda is Associate Professor at the Faculty of Policy Studies, Aichi Gakuin University, Japan. She recently co-edited Myanmar’s Changing Political Landscape: Old and New Struggle (2023), and Social Transformations in India, Myanmar, and Thailand: Social, Political and Ecological Perspectives (2021).