Asian American Research Journal

While homeland activism among the Burmese diaspora in the United States experienceda decline in momentum throughout Myanmar’s democratic transition period (2011-2021), therehas been a discernible shift since the 2021 Myanmar Military Coup. The junta’s attempts tothwart the formation of organized resistance proved unsuccessful against the rise of a newtransnational social movement—the Spring Revolution. With the 2021 Myanmar Military Coupcontinuing to unfold, this study seeks to discuss how modal and ideological shifts influence thediasporic and transnational dimensions of homeland activism among Burmese Americans.Existing literature on Burmese diasporic and transnational activism has largely focused on socialmovements responding to the 8888 Uprising (1988) and Saffron Revolution (2007). WhileBurmese Americans have traditionally played an active role in delivering political and economicremittances to Myanmar’s pro-democracy forces, the U.S. Burmese diaspora has not beenoperating on the same modality of precursive social movements. This study explores the U.S.Burmese diaspora’s responses to the 2021 Myanmar Military Coup, closely examining the goals,visions, tactics, and strategies that U.S. Burmese activist organizations operated under. Usingsemi-structured and in-depth interviews, the findings of this research suggest three key sites ofadvocacy within the U.S. Burmese diaspora: 1) networking and coalition-building across ethnic,religious, and political boundaries, 2) political lobbying to shape U.S. foreign policy onMyanmar, and 3) cross-border assistance through economic remittances and on-the-groundcoordination.