Rethinking Internal Migrations in Lao PDR

The Resettlement Process under Micro-Analysis

Bibliographic Data

ID2144285
AuthorsPierre Petit (Russian State Agrarian Correspondence University, corresponding author)
Year2008
Volume18
Issue2
Pages117-138
Publication date2008-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAnthropological Forum (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0066-4677 • E-ISSN: 1469-2902
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00664670802150166
OpenAlexW2052435192
LanguageEN
Citations received17
References cited13

Current debates about the resettlement issue in Laos point to the need to pay closer attention to the migrants' representations and practices. In this article, three biographies of recent settlers in Thongnamy (Bolikhamxay Province) are analysed to highlight some concrete mechanisms at work in this context of socio-economic change. People rely on a diversity of resources to make ends meet, with varying success. Kinship and social capital are vital resources, and land is a major concern for all. The migrants' agency (a dimension missing in more quantitative surveys) must, however, be framed against a local ‘arena’, which is itself entangled in the broader, national setting, as revealed by a discussion of the ethnic issue and the land allocation policy. Ultimately, this paper offers insights into the progressive social differentiation that takes place in a new, heavily populated and multi-ethnic village where access to land is now at stake

Agency (philosophy) · Context (archaeology) · Diversity (politics) · Economic growth · Economics · Ethnic group · Geography · Kinship · Political science · Social capital · Social science · Sociology · Work (physics) · Anthropology · Asian Geopolitics and Ethnography · Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies · Vietnamese History and Culture Studies

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