Burmese Way to Socialism

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Flag of the Burma Socialist Programme Party

The Burmese Way to Socialism (Burmese: မြန်မာ့နည်းမြန်မာ့ဟန် ဆိုရှယ်လစ်စနစ်), also known as the Burmese Road to Socialism, was the state ideology of the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma, the socialist state governed by the Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP) from 1962 to 1988.

The Burmese Way to Socialism was introduced by the

State Law and Order Restoration Council.[1]

The Burmese Way to Socialism led Burma to

Southeast Asian nations.[7]

Background

Great Coco Island in the Andaman Sea. Among them was the NUF leader Aung Than, older brother of Aung San. Newspapers like Botahtaung, Kyemon and Rangoon Daily were also closed down.[8]

On 28 October 1958, Ne Win staged an internal

feudal
powers in exchange for comfortable pensions for life in 1959, but the unresolved issues of federalism and social order continued.

1962 Burmese coup d'état

Main article: 1962 Burmese coup d'état

By 1962, the Burmese public perceived the elected

civilian government as corrupt, inept at ruling the country, and unable to restore law and order, while the Burmese military were popular from stability created by Ne Win's caretaker government. On 2 March 1962, less than two years after returning to civilian rule, Ne Win launched a second military-backed coup d'état, this time without U Nu's blessing. Ne Win established Burma as a one-party socialist state under a military government with the Union Revolutionary Council replacing the Union Parliament as the supreme governing body. Ne Win became a dictator as both the Chairman of the Union Revolutionary Council and the Prime Minister, the head of state and the head of government in Burma, respectively. In April, the Union Revolutionary Council government adopted "Burmese Way to Socialism" as its official political and economic ideology for governing Burma. In July, the Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP) was founded as part of the Burmese Way to Socialism to be Burma's sole legal political party. The BSPP became the official ruling party
with Ne Win as its Chairman.

Ideological features

The "Burmese Way to Socialism" has been described by some scholars as

socialist in nature,[10] characterised also by an extensive dependence on the military, emphasis on the rural populace, and Burmese (or more specifically, Burman) nationalism.[10] Despite the Union Revolutionary Council leaders' phraseology being socialist, their actions were those of ardent nationalists seeking to maximize the power of their state.[10] In January 1963, the "Burmese Way to Socialism" was further elaborated in a political public policy called "The System of Correlation of Man and His Environment" (လူနှင့် ပတ်ဝန်းကျင်တို့၏ အညမည သဘောတရား), published as the philosophical and political basis for the Burmese approach to society and what Ne Win deemed as socialism, influenced by Buddhist, humanist and Marxist views.[11][12]

The fundamentals of the "Burmese Way to Socialism", as outlined in 1963, were as follows:

  1. In setting forth their programmes as well as in their execution the Revolutionary Council will study and appraise the concrete realities and also the natural conditions peculiar to Burma objectively. On the basis of the actual findings derived from such study and appraisal it will develop its own ways and means to progress.
  2. In its activities the Revolutionary Council will strive for self-improvement by way of self-criticism. Having learnt from contemporary history the evils of deviation towards right or left the Council will with vigilance avoid any such deviation.
  3. In whatever situations and difficulties the Revolutionary Council may find itself it will strive for advancement in accordance with the times, conditions, environment and the ever-changing circumstances, keeping at heart the basic interests of the nation.
  4. The Revolutionary Council will diligently seek all ways and means whereby it can formulate and carry out such programmes as are of real and practical value for the well-being of the nation. In doing so it will critically observe, study and avail itself of the opportunities provided by progressive ideas, theories and experiences at home, or abroad without discrimination between one country of origin and another.

The subsequent discussion of the nature of ownership, planning and development strategy in Burma between 1962 and the mid-1970s indicates that while Burma formally established the structures of a socialist economy, it did not effectively implement those structures. Furthermore, since the mid-1970s due to economic failure, Burma had to accept policies that imply more private activity, including foreign investment.[13]

According to a 1981 scholarly analysis, "there is little evidence that Burma either is now, or is in the process of becoming a socialist society".[13] The study also stated that "the leadership, although demonstrating a certain social concern, clearly lacks the ability and the will necessary to build a socialist society".[13]

Impact

The "Burmese Way to Socialism" while making significant strides in education and healthcare, it also negatively affected the economy and the living standards of the Burmese people. Foreign aid organisations, like the American-based

Asia Foundation, as well as the World Bank, were no longer allowed to operate in the country.[7] Only permitted was aid from a government-to-government basis. In addition, the teaching of the English language was reformed and moved to secondary schools, whereas previously it had started as early as kindergarten. The government also implemented extensive visa restrictions for Burmese citizens, especially when their destinations were Western countries. Instead, the government sponsored the travel of students, scientists and technicians to the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, in order to receive training and to "counter years of Western influence" in the country.[7] Similarly, visas for foreigners were limited to just 24 hours.[14]

Furthermore,

freedom of expression and the freedom of the press was extensively restricted. Foreign language publications were prohibited, as were newspapers that printed "false propagandist news."[7] The Press Scrutiny Board (now the Press Scrutiny and Registration Division), which censors all publications to this day, including newspapers, journals, advertisements and cartoons, was established by the RC through the Printers' and Publishers' Registration Act in August 1962.[15] The RC set up the News Agency of Burma (BNA) to serve as a news distribution service in the country, thus effectively replacing the work of foreign news agencies. In September 1963, The Vanguard and The Guardian, two Burmese newspapers, were nationalized. In December 1965, publication of privately owned newspapers was banned by the government.[7]

The impact on the

Anglo-Burmese, Burmese Indians
and the British, who were disproportionately represented in these industries.

The oil industry, which was previously controlled by American and British companies, such as the General Exploration Company and East Asiatic Burma Oil, were forced to end operations. In its place was the government-owned

Burma Oil Company, which monopolized oil extraction and production. In August 1963, the nationalization of basic industries, including department stores, warehouses and wholesale shops, followed.[7]
Price control boards were also introduced.

The Enterprise Nationalization Law directly affected foreigners in Burma, particularly

Burmese Chinese, both of whom had been influential in the economic sector as entrepreneurs and industrialists. By mid-1963, 2,500 foreigners a week were leaving Burma.[7] By September 1964, approximately 100,000 Indian nationals had left the country.[7]

The black market became a major feature of Burmese society, representing about 80% of the national economy during the Burmese Way period.[4] Moreover, income disparity became a major socioeconomic issue.[4] Throughout the 1960s, Burma's foreign exchange reserves declined from $214 million in 1964 to $50 million in 1971, while inflation skyrocketed.[16]

Significant gains were made in some of the social sectors.

infant mortality rate declined from 129 to 50, and the number of persons per physician, from 15,560 to 3,900 during the same period.[6]

In the First

Kyat based in denominations divisible by 9, a number he considered to be auspicious, led to the wiping of millions of savings of the Burmese people, resulting in the 8888 Uprising.[14][1]

See also

References

Citations

  1. ^ a b "Obituary: Ne Win". BBC. 5 December 2002. Archived from the original on 9 January 2021. Retrieved 2 January 2010.
  2. ^ Collignon, Stefan (13 August 2011). "THE BURMESE ECONOMY AND THE WITHDRAWAL OF EUROPEAN TRADE PREFERENCES" (PDF). Archived from the original on 13 August 2011. Retrieved 16 January 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  3. ISBN 9789188836168
    . Retrieved 16 January 2018 – via Google Books.
  4. ^
    JSTOR 3992410
    .
  5. ^ "World Development Indicators, GDP per capita (constant 2000 US$) for Myanmar, East Asia & Pacific region". World Bank. Archived from the original on 27 February 2019. Retrieved 23 February 2019 – via Google.
  6. ^
    ISBN 9789812302113
    . Retrieved 16 January 2018 – via Google Books.
  7. ^
    JSTOR 2642237
    .
  8. ^ a b c d e f Smith, Martin (1991). Burma – Insurgency and the Politics of Ethnicity. London and New Jersey: Zed Books. pp. 49, 91, 50, 53, 54, 56, 57, 58–9, 60, 61, 60, 66, 65, 68, 69, 77, 78, 64, 70, 103, 92, 120, 176, 168–9, 177, 178, 180, 186, 195–7, 193, 202, 204, 199, 200, 270, 269, 275–276, 292–3, 318–320, 25, 24, 1, 4–16, 365, 375–377, 414.
  9. ISBN 0-521-35505-2
    .
  10. ^
    JSTOR 3023680
    . The phraseology of their political goal is socialist, even Marxist, but their actions are those of ardent nationalists seeking to maximize the power of their state.
  11. ^ "The System of Correlation of Man and His Environment". Burmalibrary.org. Archived from the original on 13 November 2019. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  12. ISBN 978-4-87297-748-6
    .
  13. ^
    ISSN 0305-750X
    .
  14. ^ a b c d e Steinberg, David I. (1997). "Myanmar: The Anomalies of Politics and Economics" (PDF). The Asia Foundation Working Paper Series (5). Asia Foundation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 May 2011.
  15. ^ [1] [dead link]
  16. JSTOR 2643067
    .

Sources

Books

Journal articles

Other

External links

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