Should ethnic Lao people be considered indigenous to Cambodia? Ethnicity, classification and the politics of indigeneity

Datos Bibliográficos

ID6039764
AutoresIan G Baird (0000-0001-7747-2485, University of Wisconsin–Madison, autor de correspondencia)
Año2016
Volumen17
Número4
Páginas506-526
Fecha de publicación2016-10-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaAsian Ethnicity (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1463-1369 • E-ISSN: 1469-2953
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14631369.2015.1137196
OpenAlexW2285673764
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas11
Referencias citadas15

The ethnic Lao are not well-known in Cambodia, despite constituting a substantial but unrecorded population there. Even though the Lao have lived in Cambodia for many generations, they were excluded from being considered 'indigenous peoples' when the category was legally introduced to Cambodia through the 2001 land law. Instead, they are not classified as 'ethnic Lao', except for the very few who were actually born in Laos. Here, I consider how the politics of identity in Cambodia has separated some highland ethnic minorities from the Lao. Many ethnic Lao in Cambodia quietly disagree with not being classified as indigenous. This contestation represents a similar dynamic to the differences of opinion between the Asian Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP) and the peasant organization, La Via Campesina, regarding advocating for indigenous and peasant rights, respectively. My objective is to demonstrate that the politics of indigenous categorization in Cambodia is complicated and fraught

Ethnic group · Ethnology · Geography · Indigenous · Peasant · Political science · Politics · Population · Sociology · Cambodian History and Society · Demography · Gender Studies · Law · Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies · Vietnamese History and Culture Studies