Modalities of Bureaucratic Violence: Bordering via Civil Documentation in Myanmar

This article examines bordering via bureaucratic violence in Myanmar in relation to civil documentation. We categorize bureaucratic encounters into five modalities of bureaucratic violence: deferred citizenship and higher evidentiary burdens; negative discretion in administrative decision-making; denationalization; administrative erasure; and movement restrictions. Since the 2021 military coup, such forms of violence have expanded in terms of geographic scope and application. In the context of armed conflict, forced migration, and upheaval of state structures, bureaucratic violence in the production, circulation, and restriction of documents is employed as a primary bordering technique – with consequences for Rohingya and other religious, ethnic, and political groups.