Amora is an anarcha-feminist from Myanmar who has been involved in political activism for several decades. She is the “co-founder” and the current “financial officer” of the “Hero Warriors”, a local defence force against the Myanmar military junta.

Hein: How did you first become involved in this revolution? Can you introduce a bit of your background? Were you politically active before the revolution?

My journey into anarchism did not start with textbooks or academic theories. It started with the heavy, suffocating weight of patriarchy that I grew up with in my own family and environment. Back then, I did not even know what the word "anarchism" meant. For a young woman raised in a semi-rural, deeply conservative area, surviving under a military-dictated education system, these political theories felt a universe away.

But the moment I recognized that oppression for what it was—a fundamental injustice—I started a revolution right inside my own home. That spirit of rebellion took root when I was around 18.

In a conservative town where the traditional Buddhism is the norm, the concept of gender equality simply did not exist. It was an environment where women were systematically subjugated, and men automatically claimed the moral high ground. But as the repression intensified, so did my urge to fight back. My domestic revolution quickly expanded to a rebellion against my entire surroundings. I realized that gender equality is not something you beg for; it is something you enforce through your own actions. I had to build my own worth from the ground up.

It was only after I graduated, around the age of 21, that I discovered atheism. From there, the dots naturally connected to feminism and anarchism. I began to realize that the authoritarian systems we are fighting against—the restrictions, the top-down control—all bleed from the exact same root. That realization is what made me an anarcho-feminist.

Yet, if there is one thing I despise, it is being labelled by others as a "feminist" or an "anarchist." I want to build my own identity and live in my own world by my own standards. You could say I have become an individualist. The irony of people labelling me an anarchist back then was that I had only just discovered the concept. While my core beliefs certainly aligned with anarchism, their narrow definitions should not limit my identity. I care about actions, not the "ists" and "isms."

When we look at the actions of someone who knows nothing of these political philosophies and force them under a specific ideological banner, we are just slapping a label on them.

Labelling is ultimately just another way to trap human dignity and liberty inside predefined stereotypes. And the moment we do not perfectly conform to their arbitrary standards, those same people hit us with double standards.

This interview starting from below has been adapted and polished from a live discussion between Amora and participants at an event hosted by "Magandjin-Myanmar Solidarity"—a fundraising and solidarity campaign based in Australia.

Question: How does a revolutionary rebel army organise in a de-centralised way?

We organise by applying “collective responsibility” for all decisions. Also, we seriously take the consensus and make note of individual disagreements.

When it comes to “frontline”, there is no chain of command. We will have a temporary assignment of roles on operational basis, e.g. have a battle role temporarily and it will be different at every field.

Question: How is the class element play here? What is the cultural aspect of the villages and suburbs your rebel group defend?

Even though some of us consider ourselves anarchists and libertarians, the organisation as a whole is not 100% anarchist, thus, does not apply anarchist principles especially for those who come from peasant background with low education. Those who comes from high education are more inclined to anarchist values such as de-centralisation and libertarian values such as federated organisational structure.

However, since most of the population are from the socio-economic status of low educated background – (in Myanmar, a huge class divide in middle class and poor working class, even after ignoring the elites) most revolutionary soldiers are from poor working class rural area.

Question: How does the feminist principles play out in daily practice? How do you combat patriarchy? Especially in military operations, how does feminist principles turn out in reality? …