Graduate Associate
hmlwin[at]yorku.ca
Doctoral Candidate
Graduate Programme in Humanities, York University
Research Keywords:
Religion and politics; religious ideology; Buddhism; social movements; participatory democracy; decentralization/federalism; culture; Burmese political philosophy; Southeast Asia
Research Region(s):
Burma/Myanmar, Southeast Asia
Research Diaspora(s):
Htet Min Lwin is a doctoral candidate in Religious Studies at York University. He received an MA degree in political science from Central European University, Budapest, with a thesis on the trajectory of the ultranationalist monks’ social movement in Myanmar known as the Mabatha. Arguing against the political instrumentalist portrayal, it shows how Buddhist monks used their social power and networks to mobilize for promulgation of anti-Muslim laws, and how they tried to frame their movement ideologies within the larger ideas of Theravada Buddhism. He was previously founding country director (2016–20) of Forum of Federations Myanmar Office, working with many major stakeholders on federalism/decentralization and local governance. His interests are in the intersections of religion and politics, religious ideology, Buddhism, social movements, participatory democracy, decentralization/federalism, culture, Burmese political philosophy, and Southeast Asia.
Publications
• “Religious Inclusion in Not-Too-Far Past, as Understood by Mahāgandhārum Sayadaw.” Independent Journal of Burmese Scholarship 1 (Special Issue on the Rohingya: Politics of Inclusion and Exclusion in Myanmar).
• “Federalism at the Forefront of Myanmar’s Revolution.” Kyoto Review of Southeast Asia, no. 31 (2021).Conference papers
• “Myiq-tá-za and the idea of “mìn” in Myanmar: Coup legitimacy and the Sangha,” at the 14th International Burma Studies Conference, September 2021.Media Appearance/Interview
• Tin Maung Than. “Interview with Htet Min Lwin, PhD student, York University on Abolition Movement: Police and Armed Forces.” Video. Democracy and Human Rights in Contemporary World. Voice of America, Myanmar Program, 12 February 2022.