Civil Society Strategies Amid Autocratization: Between Resistance and Accommodation: Evidence from Thailand, Cambodia, and Myanmar

Over the last decade, a plethora of academic and more policy-oriented works have drawn attention to the phenomenon of ‘shrinking’ or ‘closing’ civic space. Generally defined as including the repression of civil liberties, the passage of restrictive Nongovernmental Organization (NGO) laws, and the oppression of critical civil society organizations (CSOs), ‘shrinking’ or ‘closing’ space is commonly viewed as forming an integral part of (re-)autocratization. So far, however, only few works have explored how CSOs react to the closing of civic space and what strategies they devise to counter this phenomenon. I try to fill this gap by investigating civil society strategies amid (re)autocratization in Southeast Asia, focusing on Thailand, Cambodia, and Myanmar, three Buddhist majority countries, which represent a continuum of re-autocratization. Specifically, I investigate how CSOs have reacted to the (actual or planned) passing of restrictive legislation and, more generally, the strategies of repression and cooptation, which have been employed by incumbent regimes to tame or silence civil society. In so doing, I build on the premise that the strategies employed by CSOs display varying degrees of resistance and accommodation, depending on the characteristics of the autocratic regime. However, they also impact autocratic regimes in different ways, challenging, maintaining, and, at times, reinforcing autocratic rule.