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Invisible Walls: Village Identity and the Maintenance of Cooperation in Laos

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 August 2011

W. Randall Ireson
Affiliation:
Salem, Oregon, USA

Abstract

Inter-household relations in lowland Lao villages are often characterized by cooperation and mutual support. This study describes norms governing agricultural labour exchange, assistance at household ceremonies, and village-wide projects. Successful cooperation expresses and reinforces values of village mutuality and solidarity which are important principles of Lao social organization and identification.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © The National University of Singapore 1996

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22 Evans, Lao Peasants, chs. 6, 7.

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28 The description by Durrenberger and Tannenbaum of the way similar social and environmental forces promote economic homogeneity among the Shan provides a parallel example. See their Analytical Perspectives.

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