SUSTAINING COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT UNDER PROTRACTED CONFLICT IN MYANMAR: A DOCUMENTARY SYNTHESIS OF RECURRING COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT MECHANISMS

Htin Aung Ling; John Walsh

Authors

Htin Aung Ling Krirk University https://orcid.org/0009-0008-7815-2211
John Walsh Krirk University

Keywords:

Community Development, Community Resilience, Myanmar, Prolonged Challenges, Buddhist Peace Ethics

Abstract

This study examines how communities in Myanmar sustain community development under prolonged challenges. It uses a qualitative, interpretivist documentary synthesis of nineteen publicly available documents published from 2021 to July 2026. The Framework Method combined twelve study-specific analytical domains, developed to operationalise the research objectives and sensitised by the literature, with inductive sub-coding of 118 page-referenced excerpts. The documented community development initiative served as the unit of analysis. Community resilience provides the primary explanatory orientation, while community-driven development (CDD), asset-based community development (ABCD), and social capital provide complementary perspectives. A supplementary post-inductive Buddhist ethical lens is used only to interpret selected practices of non-harm, restraint, mutual care, and non-escalation. Seven context-dependent continuity mechanisms were identified: (1) local institutional adaptation and service continuity; (2) local guidance and coordination; (3) context-adaptive implementation and community safety; (4) resource mobilisation and capacity under prolonged constraints; (5) external partnership and community capacity support; (6) adaptive social relationships and community networks; and (7) safety-oriented and non-escalatory community practices. These mechanisms are partly sequential but not universal: they may overlap, recur, be absent, or operate differently across locations. Community resilience is expressed through adaptive continuity rather than unlimited coping capacity and may involve strain, interruption, resource depletion, and external support. Buddhist peace ethics remains a supportive interpretive lens rather than a causal explanation. The study contributes a context-sensitive account of community resilience and continuity mechanisms while recognising the limits of an uneven English-language documentary record.

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