Hmong Christian elites as political and development brokers
Competition, cooperation and mimesis in Vietnam’s highlands
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 19005385 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Rumsby (0000-0002-8190-4874, Politics and International Studies University of Warwick Coventry United Kingdom, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 29 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 701-717 |
| Publication date | 2021-08-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Social Anthropology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0964-0282 • E-ISSN: 1469-8676 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/1469-8676.13090 |
| OpenAlex | W3202585754 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
| References cited | 36 |
This article focuses on the role of new Hmong religious leaders – predominantly young men – who have played an important role in spreading Protestant Christianity across Vietnam’s highlands over the past 30 years. These pastors and evangelists have directly challenged the authority of previously established Hmong local elites, whose legitimacy rested on traditional religious authority and/or state patronage, causing significant social conflict along the way. Some new Christian pioneers have gained local elite status as political and development brokers for their community, enjoying a potent combination of spiritual authority, strong external networks and financial success. As such, international religious networks can function as alternative patrons to the state for well-placed Hmong Christian elites to tap into and redistribute to their communities – to varying degrees. Contextualising such leadership dynamics within wider anthropological scholarship of upland Southeast Asia affirms the ‘pioneering ethos’ of local elites in challenging, complying with or mimicking state forms of governance in their attempts to draw in and channel external potency. This highlights the degree of political manoeuvring space available to non-state actors in a supposedly authoritarian state, as well as ongoing tensions and controversies facing pastors who negotiate ambiguous relationships with powerful external forces. \n \n
Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Law · Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies · Vietnamese History and Culture Studies
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| Unique citing works | 6 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,2 |
| Citation span | 2021 - 2026 (6) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 4 |