How do contentious repertoires travel across space and time? Why do protesters in a society borrow and adapt certain protest tactics deployed in foreign settings, but not others? Do the ethnicity and social background of movement actors influence the choice and effectiveness of a tactical repertoire? My project at CSEAS will address this set of questions through a longitudinal study of Myanmar and its contentious politics. It will especially investigate the diffusion of a Gandhian-inspired protest method, the “silent strike.” This method, of turning bustling urban areas into “dead towns” by stopping all economic, social, and cultural activity, is firmly anchored in the protest repertoires of South Asia and Africa, but not Southeast Asia. The practice and performance of closing down shops, offices, and transport systems propose a non-violent, “silent,” yet still disruptive action for movements operating under politically sensitive, if not highly repressive, settings. Why and how such a tactic has been deployed in Myanmar is little understood. Does the presence and activism of an Indian diaspora during colonial rule merely explain such tactical diffusion? My study draws on an investigation of British colonial archives and in-depth interviews with activists from Myanmar. By focusing on a non-Western, Southeast Asian case, I hope to generate a better understanding of the many ways contentious repertoires can travel, evolve, and adapt, and what role identity, religion, and ethnicity can have in the process.