Living in a Globalized World

Indigenous peoples in Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, and Yunnan (in China) live in a region of massive change, fuelled by the rise of China, the end of war or sanctions, “open door” policies, and regional integration. Policies aimed at minorities or developing upland areas, as well as transformations wrought by migration, highways, hydropower, the Internet and other media, and tourism are all impacting the cultures of the Akha, Lisu, Karen, Dai, Mien, Khmu, and numerous other groups in the Mekong region.

This book is the result of an innovative cross-border comparative project jointly conducted by an international team of scholars. The authors focus on a variety of phenomena including religious conversion, the media, healing practices, rituals, hydropower projects, and tourist-oriented ethnic enclaves. A closing chapter is a theoretically informed study of the transformation of Hmong culture and identity, with insights that may well be applicable to the other groups.

Don McCaskill is chair of the Department of Indigenous Studies at Trent University in Canada. Prasit Leepreecha is a researcher at the Social Research Institute of Chiang Mai University, Thailand. He Shaoying is professor and vice president of Yunnan Nationalities University, China.

Tables
Figures
Preface
Acknowledgments

1 / Globalization, Nationalism, Regionalism, and Ethnic Minorities in the Greater Mekong Subregion: A Comparative Analysis
Don McCaskill, Prasit Leepreecha, and He Shaoying

2 / Religious Conversion and Ethnic Identity: The Karen and the Akha in Northern Thailand
Kwanchewan Buadaeng and Panadda Boonyasaranai

3 / The Role of Media Technology in Reproducing Hmong Ethnic Identity
Prasit Leepreecha

4 / Changes in Healing Practices among the Hmong in Vietnam
Nguyen Van Thang and Nguyen Thi Minh Nguyet

5 / The Transformation of Rituals in Two Mien Villages in Northeast Vietnam
Tran Van Ha and Le Minh Anh

6 / Hydropower Development on the Lancang: A Recommendation for Affected Ethnic Minorities
Xiong Zhang, Jinrong Liu, and Ma Li

7 / The Inheritance of Dai Culture and the Preservation of Dai Park in Xishuangbanna
He Shaoying, Luo Hailin, and Luo Ping

8 / Khmu Identity and Survival in Globalizing China: A Double Dilemma
Liu Jiang

9 / The Changing Livelihoods of the Akha in Muang Sing and Muang Long in Laos
Houmphan Rattanavong

10 / "Fix" and "Flux": The Transformation of Hmong Culture and Identity
Don McCaskill

Epilogue, Pinkaew Laungaramsri
Bibliography
Contributors
Index