Lao State Formation in Phôngsali Villages: Rising Intervention in the Daily Household and Phounoy Reaction

The Impact of Unimplemented Large-Scale Land Development Deals

“…This lack of attention to local costs associated with large-scale land deals seems to be especially prevalent in settings where state institutions claim land rights (Sikor and Lund, 2010;Lund, 2011;Lu and Schönweger, 2017). Ultimately, the failure to respect villagers' interests, plans and livelihoods negatively affects how the villagers view the local authorities and creates everyday forms of resistance (Sikor, 2006;Ducourtieux, 2013;Hall et al, 2015). In the Laotian case, this was phrased as a desire to ignore future proposals from state institutions.…”

“…However, the "abundant land" is being placed under stricter control by still incomplete land reforms and land use planning efforts aimed at regulating the use of land and natural resources through mapping and zoning exercises (Lestrelin et al, 2012). These reforms extend the influence of the state into rural communities, often resulting in dispossession or restrictions in traditional use of natural resources (Lund, 2011;Castella et al, 2013;Ducourtieux, 2013;Broegaard et al, 2017;Lu and Schönweger, 2017), and foreign land investors may-from the point of view of state actors-help in this process to extend control over areas, where the state control is still weak or contested.…”