From Tribalism to Nationalism

Laos has long been considered by ethnologists as a unique place of study. To this day, diverse ethnic minorities make up over half the country's population. In earlier times, several good ethnographies were made but usually they were narrow in scope. War and revolution then made fieldwork impossible in Laos until the 1990s, when some international researchers returned, often in difficult and precarious conditions, bringing new theoretical perspectives. This volume brings together several such studies by this new generation of researchers, their fieldwork often joint projects in collaboration with Lao researchers. Published in collaboration with the Ecole francaise d'Extreme-Orient (EFEO), the book is a tribute to the late Grant Evans, whose work remains emblematic of this 'anthropological turn' in Lao studies.