Upland Geopolitics

"Michael Dwyer’s engaging analysis of upland geopolitics shows that Laos has been the mother of many outlandish ideas, but these ideas have had real, material, environmental and political consequences."

"This book and its focus not only raise critical questions about the stories of Laos but about how scholars can contribute to a lineage of attempts at understanding Southeast Asia in the world. This book and the questions it raises will be of interest to scholars and students focusing on natural resource governance, land grabbing, transnational investment, political ecology, and geopolitics, within and beyond Southeast Asia."

"With an innovative methodology which accepts complexity rather than obliterating it, Upland Geopolitics epitomizes the difficulties and the struggles that state administrators face in their strive to project state power on a territory over which they proclaim sovereignty."

"To the land grab literature, Michael Dwyer brings the fruits of theoretical innovation and long-term research on an embattled resource frontier. . . Upland Geopolitics seems not only to capture the rural situation in Laos but also to convey its significance for contexts across the global south. Indeed, Dwyer's excellent book deserves a broad audience beyond those interested in the land rush, including also scholars working on highland Southeast Asia, hot zones in the Cold War, rural development, and agrarian studies."

"Mike Dwyer’s Upland Geopolitics is indispensable for understanding the global land rush, or what is more popularly known as global land grabbing, despite the vast body of literature that has been produced on this topic over the past decade. . . Undoubtedly, this book is essential reading for the scholars, students, officials, practitioners, and activists, among others, navigating the complex political ecologies of upland landscapes in Laos and beyond."

"A corporate land concession is not simply a legal contract. It is complex geo-political and social operation in which governance, rent seeking, and promises of development intersect and collide on particular terrain. Intrigued by the chronic opacity of global land deals, Dwyer explores their making with insight and skill."

"An original and brilliant book that is embedded in geopolitics and global capitalism. It will appeal to scholars and activists alike who are deeply concerned about the future of humanity and our planet."

"Adds historical depth as well as geographical nuance to how scholars have sought to understand Laos's recent territorialization."

"A strong contribution to the geopolitics of land grabbing in Southeast Asia, Upland Geopolitics provides vital insights into the dynamics of dispossession."