Culture and Development in Southeast Asia

This book is a collection of papers presenting new field research undertaken throughout the region by the respective authors. Five of the chapters report original findings from ethnic groups found in Thailand, including the Lahu, the Lue, the Palaung, the Thai and black Tai. Further chapters address the Toraya of Sulawesi, Indonesia; the Kalinga of Luzon, the Philippines; the Giay, Hmong and Dao of Lao Cai Province, Vietnam; and Nung Phan Slinh of Lang Son Province, Vietnam. The central organizing theme of the volume is the convergence and ineraction of culture and socio-economic development. The process of development is treated as enmeshed in culture, and vice-versa, cultural change is explored in a context of market forces, state policy, and development programs influencing the formation, maintenance, and transformation of ethnic identities. Sub-themes broached include the engagement (and impingement) of regional, national, and global cross-currents on local populations; issues of national identity, ideology and the integration of groups into larger nations; and how these identities are articulated and shaped by public, academic, and political discourse.