Labour Abroad as a Struggle for Land: Young Migrants’ Dream of a Rural Return to Myanmar

Abstract

This article examines land struggles that take place outside of the land in question, in order to show that rural youth continue to have an interest in rural and agrarian life despite out-migration. Through life-story interviews and photovoices with young Myanmar migrants in Thailand's agriculture and tourism sectors, the article shows how rural land serves as the material and emotional basis for young migrants’ imagined futures. Indeed, the vast majority leave Myanmar behind with the dream of saving up to acquire land and set up both agrarian and non-agrarian livelihoods in their villages of origin. I argue that rural out-migration and labour abroad need to be considered as struggles for land, driven by emotional attachments to rural areas and life. Importantly, difficult conditions in Thailand and Myanmar, aggravated by COVID-19 and the 2021 Myanmar military coup, make it difficult for these aspirations to be realised. The findings in this article are crucial to fostering rural futures that can encompass rural youth.