Chapter 7 State and market: The politics of development, “peasantization,” and agrarian restructuring in Northern Lao PDR

Abstract

The late incorporation of Lao PDR in the globalized age as an agricultural producer and exporter has been created through the process of “peasantization” and restructuring of agricultural upland productive area. The chapter discusses the role of the state and cross-border markets through contract farming in three villages in northern Lao PDR. Contrary to the general belief that economic globalization will result in the weakening of the state, the chapter argues that the state still has a significant role to play. Being late in the corporation into the world market, the changes that take place become very intense.

Citation

Chiengthong, J. (2010), "Chapter 7 State and market: The politics of development, “peasantization,” and agrarian restructuring in Northern Lao PDR", Bonanno, A., Bakker, H., Jussaume, R., Kawamura, Y. and Shucksmith, M. (Ed.) From Community to Consumption: New and Classical Themes in Rural Sociological Research (Research in Rural Sociology and Development, Vol. 16), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 95-112. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1057-1922(2010)0000016010