Sarah Riebel is a doctoral candidate in the working group Social and Political Anthropology of Prof Dr. Judith Beyer and is holding a PhD scholarship from the Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation. She studied sociology and history (B.A.) at the University of Konstanz and at the University of Oslo. She earned her master’s degree at the University of Konstanz in social and cultural anthropology and sociology (M.A.). During her fieldwork for her master’s thesis Cascades of Crisis. Narratives of Conflict, Disaster and Crisis in Sri Lanka - An Anthropological Analysis she examined the effects of the civil war, the tsunami and the Easter attacks on tourism and the crisis narratives of the local population.
Her doctoral thesis Activism in Exile among Burmese Migrants in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and the Thai-Burmese Border Region focuses the topic of activism in exile. The emphasis is on Burmese activists in Thailand who fled from the attempted military coup in February 2021 or from other recent conflicts in Myanmar. The forced exile of activists from Myanmar to Thailand has a complex history and a lot of activists from past struggles and resistance movements still support the current anti-coup struggles. I am interested in how the current situation in Myanmar, but also the exile and refugee status in general, affects activist activities in Bangkok and Chiang Mai, but also in the border regions around Mae Sot.
The doctoral project deals with various forms of activist engagement by working together with and talking to individual activists, civil society organizations on the grassroots level and (I)NGOs. In addition, the role of the Thai and Myanmar states and the international community will be examined. To make this possible, an anthropological-ethnographic research approach is chosen. Exiled activists are therefore not only advocates for what is happening in Myanmar, they also act as an important link between Myanmar and the international community by sharing their insights on social media or at talks and webinars all over the world.
Here you find the curriculum vitae of Sarah Riebel.
Publications
In Myanmar fließt Blut. seemoz. 01/04/2021.
Conferences
08.2024
Everyday Life and Resilience of Exiled Myanmar Activists in Thailand. The International Conference on Burma/Myanmar Studies (ICBMS4): Chiang Mai (Chiang Mai University), 03.08.2024.
06.2024
Burmese Exiled Activists in Thailand. International Interdisciplinary Conference on Myanmar’s Borderlands: Past, Present Future: Bangkok (Chulalongkorn University), 18.06.2024.
06.2023
The Art of Activism – Encountering Myanmar Exiled Activists in Thailand. Burma Studies Conference: Zürich, 10.06.2023.
10.2020
Harmonious Coexistence – Interfaith Dialogue in Myanmar. Myanmar Conference: Stuttgart (Linden Museum), 06.10.2020.