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COVID‐19 highlighted interconnections between matters of identity and citizenship, vulnerability, and inclusion in/exclusion from systems of care in times of crisis. Migrant workers from Nagaland state, northeast India, were disproportionately impacted by the pandemic's socioeconomic consequences. The public health emergency brought into question who is 'Indian' and the citizenship rights attached to that identity, heightening migrants' exclusion from central structures. Communitarian responses in Nagaland enhanced resilience in the face of often inadequate government responses; however, COVID‐19 also exposed structural inequalities within and between Naga communities. This study shows that identity‐based citizenship regimes and multi‐nation federalism interact to increase minorities' exclusion during crises, and that crises can strengthen both divisions and solidarity at the local level in multi‐nation federal systems. Inclusion in and exclusion from systems of care are shaped by and can reshape notions of identity and citizenship, underlining the need for inclusive sociopolitical systems to mitigate crises in multi‐nation federal states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Borderland brokers can play a key role in shaping processes of socio-political change within contexts of ongoing 'political unsettlement'. Myanmar's contested 'transition' to democracy and peace, which began in 2011, created the space and need for brokers to mediate state–non-state and centre–periphery relations. Ethnographic research focusing on a polio immunisation campaign in Kayin State demonstrates how brokers' characteristics as network specialists and 'translators' allowed them to create a temporary 'brokerage fix', facilitating collaboration between actors historically divided by conflict, enabling an internationally funded development intervention, and contributing to local-level peace formation. Yet the ability of brokers to reshape state–non-state and centre–periphery relations in ways more conducive to long-term positive peace and equitable development is constrained by the uncertain and shifting fields of power within which they operate. The 2021 military coup and escalating violence in Myanmar ultimately highlight the more general precariousness and temporality of brokerage networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores 'health as a bridge to peace' in Myanmar's Kayin State. It focuses on an Auxiliary Midwife training programme, which has created partnerships between actors historically divided by decades-long conflict. Drawing on ethnographic research, the article highlights the agency of community-level service providers, who are often overlooked in conventional approaches to peacebuilding. It demonstrates that community health workers are challenging top-down liberal approaches to peacebuilding and advancing an alternative approach to development and peace in their areas – one that emphasises systemic change and recognition of non-state governance systems. The shared lexicon and standardised practices of healthcare create 'working encounters' – encounters that 'work', because they enable actors historically divided by conflict to carve out an 'apolitical' space in an otherwise highly politicised context, while still allowing for different perspectives and agendas. These 'working encounters' in turn facilitate the development of understanding, trust and collaboration across conflict divides. Yet community-level actors face structural limitations, which are often underestimated by proponents of 'health as a bridge to peace'. Nevertheless, this case study highlights significant contributions that community-level 'working encounters' can make to wider peace processes, as well as the need for hybrid and emancipatory practices of peace formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]