11. Influence of Regime of Care and Territoriality on Border Governance in Kachin, Myanmar

This study explores how humanitarian assistance and territoriality intersect to form border governance in Kachin State, Myanmar, where protracted conflicts have shaped a complex landscape of overlapping authorities. Multiple actors—the state, ethnic armed organizations, international agencies, and religious networks—mobilize distinct “regimes of care” that reflect divergent norms, rules, and governance logic. Adopting theoretical insights from border studies, the study applies the frameworks of multiscale governance, power arrangements/geometry of power, and discordant multiplicity/disharmony to analyze the fragmented and dynamic nature of territorial control in conflict-affected borderlands. It argues that care provision is not merely a humanitarian act, but a spatial and political practice that reconfigures authority and legitimacy across contested territories. Through case studies of the Myanmar government, Kachin Independence Organization/Kachin Independence Army, and Kachin Baptist Convention, this study illustrates how humanitarian assistance functions as a mechanism of governance, at times reinforcing state sovereignty and empowering non-state alternatives at other times. The interplay between care and control reveals the limitations of state-centric models, highlighting the need for flexible multilayered approaches to border governance. This research offers broader insights into humanitarianism and authority in Southeast Asia and contributes to the theoretical debate on sovereignty, legitimacy, and governance in conflict zones.