State and Society in Modern Rangoon

While most of Asiaâs major cities are increasingly homogenized by rapid economic growth and cultural globalization Rangoon which is Burmaâs former capital and largest city still bears the imprint of a unique and often turbulent history. It is the site of the Shwedagon Pagoda a focus of Buddhist pilgrimage and devotion since the early second millennium C. E. that continues to play a major role in national life. In 1852 the British occupied Rangoon and made it their colonial capital building a modern port and administrative center based on western designs. It became the capital of independent Burma in 1948 but in 2005 the State Peace and Development Council military junta established a new heavily fortified capital at Naypyidaw 320 kilometers north of the old capital. A major motive for the capital relocation was the regimeâs desire to put distance between itself and Rangoonâs historically restive population. Reacting to the huge anti-government demonstrations of Democracy Summer in 1988 the new military regime used massive violence to pacify the city and sought to transform it in line with its supreme goal of state security. However the Saffron Revolution of September 2007 showed that Rangoonâs traditions of resistance reaching back to the colonial era are still very much alive. . Language: English