Collection of 57 face-to-face semi-structured interviews with interviewees in Shan State, eastern Myanmar, carried out as part of the GCRF Drugs and (dis)order project. Interviews were carried out in the second year of the project and explore narratives around illicit drugs across and within communities in Myanmar's borderland regions, and focus on history, political economy, health and livelihoods, and ethnography with respect to local drug problems in Shan state. The interviews are framed around the research themes of (1) living with militias, drugs and systems of borderland rule; (2) young people’s lives amidst drugs and disorder; (3) changing levels of drug cultivation and opium production in Shan State; and (4) the dynamics of the drug economy in Shan State’s border towns Muse and Tachilek.Drugs & (dis)order is a Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) project generating new evidence on how to transform illicit drug economies into peace economies in Afghanistan, Colombia and Myanmar. By 2030, more than 50% of the world’s poor will live in fragile and conflict-affected states. And many of today’s armed conflicts are fuelled by illicit drug economies in borderland regions. Trillions of dollars have been spent on the War on Drugs, but securitised approaches have failed. In fact, they often increase state fragility and adversely affect the health and livelihoods of communities and households. In light of these failures, there’s increasing recognition that drug policies need to be more pro-poor and aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). But the evidence base for this policy reform is patchy, politicised and contested. Drugs & (dis)order is helping to generate pro-poor policy solutions to transform illicit economies into peace economies. To do this we will: (1) Generate a robust evidence base on illicit drug economies and their effects on armed conflict, public health and livelihoods. (2) Identify new approaches and policy solutions to build more inclusive development and sustainable livelihoods in drugs affected contexts. (3) Build a global network of researchers and institutions in Afghanistan, Colombia, Myanmar and the UK to continue this work.
The field research has primarily focused on interviewing youth leaders, community leaders, civilians (including women, youth, elders), Shan Nationalities League for Democracy members, organisations working on drug issues and (ex) drug users and their family. Interviewees were mostly selected by snowballing, starting from connections Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN) already had with local media networks and youth groups. In addition, they also reached out to people and organisations such as school teachers, government administrators and local harm reduction organisations. A set of questions in Shan to guide interviews was developed by Shan Herald Agency for News in collaboration with Kachinland Research Centre (KRC) and SOAS researchers, starting from a concept note. The question list was used to guide the interviews, rather than as a strict interview structure. Interviews were carried out by researchers recruited by Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN). Interviews were conducted in Shan or Burmese and were audio-recorded when interviewees allowed this. Else notes were taken. All interviews have been transcribed and translated to English. The collection consists of 57 English translations and 56 local language transcripts (one interview carried out in English).
