Paper short abstract:

The Modern State attempts to simply belonging into two distinct categories: citizen and non citizen. Irregular Burmese migrants in Mae Sot, Thailand, resist this simplification by inhabiting a liminal space "betwixt and between." This paper details the resistance techiques of 8 Burmese irregular migrants in Mae Sot, Thailand and suggests the limits of the Modern State’s power when confronted with liminality as a method of resistance.

Paper long abstract:

As James C. Scott writes, simplifying fictions are a central hallmark of the Modern State. These fictions - reducing the world into black and white categories- are clearly visible in State policies of citizenship and belonging. The State defines individuals as either citizens, with access to rights and protection, or noncitizens, open to violence, oppression, and exploitation at the hands of State actors.

Irregular Burmese migrants in Mae Sot, Thailand, resist this simplification by inhabiting a liminal space between citizen and noncitizen. Through subtle, quotidian acts of resistance, migrants are able to subvert the State's attempts to guard the borders of both territory and society. Resistance techniques range from the legal (capitalizing on ambiguous ethnic categorizations within the Thai state) to the performative (altering appearance and actions to appear more "Thai") and the social (utilizing kinship and employee/employer relations for safety). Using these techniques allows migrants to obscure their illegality and use their liminality in order to increase their security and resist oppression and harassment in everyday life.

This paper details the findings of ethnographic research completed in Mae Sot during June and July 2010. Fieldwork consisted of participant observation and in-depth, semi-structured interviews with eight informants situated in various aspects of life in the border town, as well as interviews with community-based organizations and NGOs. While intended to be illustrative and not generalizable, these eight migrant lives suggest the limits of the Modern State's power when confronted with liminality as a method of resistance.