The “Hidden Hand” Orchestrating Communal Violence: Peacekeeping through Contested Framing in Central Myanmar, 2011–2021

Communal violence is shaped by competing claims over what precipitating events mean, how they are connected to broader group relations, and what should be done in response. This article argues that Buddhist-Muslim violence in Myanmar between 2011 and 2021 was shaped by a “frame contest” between those who argued that Buddhism needed to be protected from Muslims’ intent to take over the country and a counterframe arguing that the violence was ignited by the “hidden hand” of the military regime in an attempt to subvert the newly elected government. This “hidden hand” frame proved invaluable in mobilizing activists, religious leaders, and even government officials in support of a minority that they may otherwise have had little incentive to support. In other words, blaming the “hidden hand” for conflict contributed to successful peacekeeping in central Myanmar, regardless of whether this shady cadre of military officials was actually behind the violence. The argument is based on ethnographic evidence, newspaper articles, reports from nongovernmental organizations, and thirty-eight interviews conducted in Mandalay with a wide variety of respondents, including religious leaders, government officials, civil society leaders, residents, and others, in the period between 2016 and 2017. The findings from this article seek to contribute to the understanding of Buddhist-Muslim relations in this period and to broader theories of communal violence and its prevention.