Free Burma: Transnational Legal Action and Corporate Accountability

Acknowledgments

214 This book has been a long time in the making. I owe thanks and more to a long list of people. First and most important, I thank my wife and closest companion, Daniela Kraiem. She lived with this project from start to finish, debating the twists and turns in my interpretation all the way. She invested countless hours helping me edit and conceptualize this book. She was supportive when I grew weary and made tremendous sacrifices that enabled me to spend the time, effort, and resources ultimately necessary to bring it to completion. She may be the only person more pleased than I to see this book finally in print. I am deeply indebted to many people from Burma and Thailand, presently or formerly, who volunteered their time and effort, shared their food and homes, and in some cases took significant risks to assist me in collecting data. To many of them, I have promised confidentiality. To other generous and courageous individuals I offer my humble respect and gratitude, especially to Zaw Min, Ko Kyaw Kyaw, Teddy Buri, Aung Myo Min, Dr. Sein Win, Bo Hla-Hint, Win Hlaing, Ah Moe Zoe, Zaw Zaw Htun, Min Min Oo, U Bo Kyi, Bo Thakhin Sa, Lu Maw, Saw Cit Oo, Soe Aung, Myat Thu, Sitthipong Kalayanee, Htet Khai, Moe Zaw Oo, Aung Acknowledgments Acknowledgments 215 Din, Khin Omar, and many brave friends in Karen State, Shan State, Rangoon (Yangon), and Mandalay. I benefited greatly from discussions and interviews with many individuals dedicated to the transnational struggle for democracy and human rights in Burma, including Debbie Stothard, Max Ediger, Faith Doherty, Lyndal Barry, Jack Dunford, Sally Thompson, Kevin Heppner, Jackie Pollock, Veronika Martin, Peter Halford , Pippa Curran, Matthew Smith, Roshan Jason, Alison Tate, Dr. Guy Morineau, Dr. Yuval Ginbar, Antoine Madelin, Chris Kennel, Dave Mathieson , Mark Farmaner, Jeanne Hallacy, Benedict Rogers, Amy Alexander , Justin Sherman, and Annette Kunigagon. Outside Burma and Thailand, more individuals and organizations than I have space to list provided me with critical assistance. I must thank Burma Centre Nederlands for allowing me liberal access to its archives in Amsterdam. In the United States, I am grateful to Simon Billenness, Robert Benson, and Jeremy Woodrum for offering me substantial insight into their work on transnational and international legal campaigns that have contributed to the Free Burma movement. Mike Haack at U.S. Campaign for Burma kindly helped me to locate and use many of the photographs that appear in this book. Additionally, D. Ngo graciously permitted me to use many personal photographs of protests and internally displaced and forcibly relocated persons inside Burma. The University of California–Davis provided invaluable funding during the research and writing of my dissertation manuscript, from which this book derives. Especially generous were the mentors and colleagues there who critically influenced my thinking about the politics of globalization and human rights, social movements, and transnationalism. Fred Block deserves special acknowledgment for his unwavering support, intellectual nurturing, professional guidance, and warm friendship. Jack Goldstone, Michael Peter Smith, and David Kyle also greatly influenced the development of this research. All four provided insightful comments on earlier drafts of this work. I also extend thanks to Andy Nathan and my other coparticipants in the Seminar on Human Rights in an Age of Globalization, supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities and hosted by Columbia University during the summer of 2005. Mark Goodale, Sally Engle Merry, and Balakrishnan Rajagopal offered valuable comments and encouragement as I revised my work on the Doe v. Unocal case. 216 Acknowledgments Finally, I thank my colleagues at George Mason University in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, and the Center for Global Studies. They have been tremendously supportive of my research on the Free Burma movement , providing not only time and funding to sustain this work but also a vibrant culture of interdisciplinary scholarship that encourages discussion within, as well as public engagement beyond, the ivory tower. ...