International Human Rights Teachers in Myanmar Universities: The Individual Constraints of Structure on Intermediaries

Abstract

The literature on the transnational promotion of human rights looks to the role of intermediaries who facilitate connections between global and local discourses. Local discourses, however, may host actors and dynamics with diverse perspectives not entirely receptive to international norms, and so call for attention as to how they impact the work of intermediaries. Myanmar university human rights teachers serve an intermediary role, receiving international human rights training from international aid programs and promoting such training within their professional work environments. The actors and dynamics of their work environments constitute local discourses affecting the conduct of university teachers, and thereby influence their efforts to promote international human rights norms. The analysis draws on empirical fieldwork involving the experiences of Myanmar university human rights teachers, using their concerns to demonstrate the ways their professional environments constrain their teaching of human rights. From such findings, the analysis raises implications for theories of intermediaries and international aid policies to promote human rights norms.