The Revolution will not be Incarcerated
Insight Myanmar28 Feb 2023

The Revolution will not be Incarcerated

Episode #151: Tomas Martin is a prison researcher who presently works with DIGNITY, the Danish Institute Against Torture. His interest in prison research was first piqued when he heard about ten-day vipassana meditation courses in the tradition of S.N. Goenka being conducted in Tihar Jail outside of New Delhi. He is now focusing on how imprisonment in Myanmar, and its ramifications, and not only the prisoners, but the staff as well.

Besides the violence which often plagues incarceration, Martin pays close attention to the everyday experience of prison life. One of the more unique areas of his research has been a study of the usually foul prison air and its psychological and physical affects. He has pushed for new prison designs that encourage better ventilation, to improve the overall quality of life for prisoners.

On the subject of human rights within Burmese prisons, Martin points out the tragic truth that torture has long been used by the military regime to punish political dissidents. After they go through unfair trials, Martin explains how they then have limited contact with family, and their access to food and medicine is restricted. In addition, they are often either placed in extremely overcrowded conditions or kept in solitary confinement, two extremes that are equally detrimental to mental and physical health.

Martin has observed a paradoxical relationship between the revolution and the regime’s attempts at oppression. “Prison is where revolutionary actors and protests are being quelled. People are being locked up and even killed, to destroy the revolution. But the prison is also a place where there is opportunity to collect revolutionary actors and to produce revolutionary action and spirit!”

Episoder(506)

Have Pity on the Working Man

Have Pity on the Working Man

Episode #116: On July 7th, the official account of the European Union in Myanmar posted a two-minute video urging factories in conflict-torn Myanmar to re-open, charging that the factory shutdowns had...

9 Aug 202232min

A Reign of Terror

A Reign of Terror

Episode #115: Matthew Wells is a member of Amnesty International’s Crisis Response team specializing in human rights violations, and has spent years investigating the ongoing atrocities by the Tatmada...

5 Aug 20221h 12min

Supporting Myanmar through Engaged Buddhism

Supporting Myanmar through Engaged Buddhism

Episode #114: Growing up in the Bay Area, raised by parents who followed the Vietnamese meditation master Thich Nhat Hanh, Derek Pyle was no stranger to Buddhist theory and practice. While some Wester...

29 Jul 20221h 56min

Spring is Coming

Spring is Coming

Episode #113: “I often asked myself how people can really have the presence of mind to sit down and write amidst such extraordinarily difficult circumstances, to be able to reflect on the kinds of tra...

22 Jul 20221h 5min

Journey into Chin State

Journey into Chin State

Episode #112: Simon traces the arc of his Chin homeland’s history and politics from the mists of history to the present-day conflict.Chin State is the poorest part of Myanmar, which suffers from an la...

14 Jul 20222h 5min

Visual Rebellion

Visual Rebellion

Episode #111: Emerging from under decades of harsh censorship, local journalism and investigative reporting made great strides in Myanmar during the democratic transition in the 2010s. But all that wa...

7 Jul 20221h 57min

Journey Into Renunciation

Journey Into Renunciation

Episode #110: Ariya Baumann’s spiritual journey began far away from the tropical surroundings of the Golden Land. She grew in a small town in Switzerland, among the snowy Alps. Raised in a Christian h...

30 Jun 20222h 2min

Working Class Hero

Working Class Hero

Stephen Campbell has spent the last twelve years studying labor movements in Myanmar and other Southeast Asian countries. Going back and forth across the history of the country’s labor movement, he de...

23 Jun 20221h 21min

Populært innen Politikk og nyheter

giver-og-gjengen-vg
aftenpodden
aftenpodden-usa
forklart
stopp-verden
popradet
det-store-bildet
fotballpodden-2
lydartikler-fra-aftenposten
i-retten
rss-gukild-johaug
dine-penger-pengeradet
rss-ness
aftenbla-bla
hanna-de-heldige
e24-podden
rss-dannet-uten-piano
frokostshowet-pa-p5
rss-penger-polser-og-politikk
bt-dokumentar-2