Development Zones in Conflict-Affected Borderlands: The Case of Muse, Northern Shan State, Myanmar

Abstract

How are development zones ‘made’ in conflict-affected borderlands? Addressing this question, this chapter explores the transformation of the Myanmar-China border town of Muse since 1988. Despite ongoing armed conflict in northern Myanmar, Muse has become the country’s most important border development zone and today handles more than 80% of licit overland Myanmar-China trade. It is also a key border hub in China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Policy narratives typically claim that borderland development and regional economic integration offer an antidote to violence, criminality, and illegal practices. This chapter challenges these narratives. It demonstrates how longstanding forms of informal public authority and illegality have become deeply embedded in the technologies of governance that have underpinned Muse’s rise.