"This volume explores the life stories of ordinary Burmese by drawing on the narratives of individual subjects and using an array of interdisciplinary approaches. The constituted stories highlight the protagonists' survival strategies in everyday life that demonstrate their constant courage and frustration in dealing with numerous social injustices and adversities"-- Provided by publisher.

Introduction : Burmese lives in a divided state / Eric Tagliacozzo and Wen-Chin Chang -- The extra-ordinariness of ordinary lives / Mandy Sadan -- The Kayan Padaung community in Pekhon, southern Shan State, Burma / Pascal Khoo-Thwe -- A woman of mediation / Bénédicte Brac de La Perrière -- Burmese and Muslim : Islam and the hajj in the sangha state / Eric Tagliacozzo -- Recounting, resistance, and reflection : an analysis of a Burmese classical musician's narrative / Hsin-chun Tasaw Lu -- Dr. U Tin Win, escape artist / James Scott -- The Maung Aye's legacy : Burmese and Moken encounters in the southern borderlands of Myanmar, 1987-2007 / Maxime Boutry -- By sea and by land : stories of two Chinese traders / Wen-Chin Chang -- A mixed identity, a mixed career / Ma Thida -- At the community's service : a transformational life / Karin Eberhardt -- From the "loyal" to the "revolutionary" Karen : looking at Burma's post-independent eras through the life of Maung Sin Kye / Ardeth Maung Thawnghmung.