In the far south of China and the neighbouring lands of Southeast Asia there is a mountainous zon... more In the far south of China and the neighbouring lands of Southeast Asia there is a mountainous zone that stretches some thousand kilometres from the South China Sea to the Himalayas. This land is not snow-capped nor entirely rocky but instead features a mixture of forest, rain-fed agriculture, and rice terraces that sometimes extend to the very top of steep slopes in deep valleys that criss-cross the region. More than 200 million people distributed over eight countries live in this zone, of which about half belong to ethnic minorities living chiefl y in scattered hamlets, villages, and market towns in a staggering array of cultural diversity. 1 This vast region, which we call the Southeast Asian Massif (Michaud 2000a), is now increasingly opening up to investment, regional planning, and development interventions, often as countries change from socialism to more liberal markets and political systems. Yet, despite its size and importance, there has been little in-depth research about how people make a living or about the interconnections of cultural diversity, political and economic change, and livelihoods in these highlands. This book presents a number of rich analyses of livelihoods and cultural diversity in selected parts of this region. More specifi cally, the authors of the chapters here investigate the relationships between livelihoods and ethnicity in the high borderlands of socialist China, Vietnam, and Laos, which together represent more than two-thirds of the Massif's surface and an even greater proportion of its population. The aim of the book is to present locally grounded analyses of how ethnic minorities there fashion livelihoods, and to question how ethnicity affects, and is infl uenced by, economic and political changes in relation to these livelihoods. We believe this discussion provides much-needed local information about this complex region. It also demonstrates the role of cultural and ethnic networks as an under-acknowledged infl uence in the livelihood strategies of so-called "poor people." This approach is crucial for better informing discussions on poverty alleviation and livelihoods in general; perhaps even more so for the countries of China, Michaud_Forsyth-no red.indd 1 Michaud_Forsyth-no red.indd 1
Trans-Himalayan Borderlands: Livelihoods, Territorialities, Modernities
The societies in the Him... more Trans-Himalayan Borderlands: Livelihoods, Territorialities, Modernities
The societies in the Himalayan borderlands have undergone wide-ranging transformations, as the territorial reconfiguration of modern nation-states since the mid-twentieth century and the presently increasing trans-Himalayan movements of people, goods, and capital reshape the livelihoods of communities, pulling them into global trends of modernization and regional discourses of national belonging. This book explores the changes to native senses of place, the conception of border – simultaneously as limitations and opportunities – and what the authors call “affective boundaries,” “livelihood reconstruction,” and “trans-Himalayan modernities.” It addresses changing social, political, and environmental conditions that acknowledge growing external connectivity even as it emphasizes the importance of place.
Dan Smyer Yü is professor and director of Center for Trans-Himalayan Studies at Yunnan Minzu University. Jean Michaud is professor of social anthropology at Université Laval, Canada.
Ethnic minorities in the uplands of northern Vietnam are experiencing rapid state- and market-ind... more Ethnic minorities in the uplands of northern Vietnam are experiencing rapid state- and market-induced economic and agrarian transformations. These communities are having to make important livelihood adaptations to adjust, while living at Vietnam’s economic and political margins. We analyse one such market-induced transformation that some upland communities are deciding to engage with, connected to an increasing demand for locally distilled alcohol. Against the backdrop of traditional production for domestic consumption, distilled alcoholic beverages are now (re)emerging as a cash-earning opportunity. Drawing on interviews and observations with ethnic minority Hmong and Yao women and men in Lào Cai Province, we analyse the degree to which household members have engaged with this market opportunity and the often complex reasons behind their choices. We reveal how an apparently simple shift in scale of a customary activity generates nuanced cultural, gendered and generational debates that, at times, are at odds with mere profitability.
This article discusses the persistent absence of a consensus on a script for the language of the ... more This article discusses the persistent absence of a consensus on a script for the language of the Hmong, a kinship-based society of 5 million spread over the uplands of Southwest China and northern Indochina, with a vigorous diaspora in the West. In search of an explanation for this unusual situation, this article proposes a political reading inspired by James C. Scott's 2009 book The Art of Not Being Governed. A particular focus is put on Scott's claim of tactical rejection of literacy among upland groups of Asia. To set the scene, the case of the Hmong is briefly exposed before detailing the successive appearance of orthographies for their language(s) over one century. It is then argued that the lack of consensus on a common writing system might be a reflection of deeper political motives rather than merely the result of historical processes.
). In Dan Smyer Yu, Su Faxiang and Li Yunxia, eds. 环喜马拉雅区域研究编译文集二——佐米亚、边疆与跨界 [Trans-Himalayan Studies Reader Vol.II: Zomia, Frontiers and Borderlands]. 学院出版社 [Beijing: Academy Press] pp.12-46., 2017
International work migration from rural Thailand is not new, yet relatively little is known about... more International work migration from rural Thailand is not new, yet relatively little is known about the decision-making processes regarding this livelihood strategy at the family level and across generations. Drawing on concepts of transnationalism and livelihood pathways and trajectories, this case-study traces the agency that underpins labour moves over two generations of a rural family in Chiang Rai province. The focus is on individual trajectories that exemplify how the first generation of migrant labour entered the market and the degree to which the second generation is replicating or modifying the migration patterns of their elders. We also show, from an emic perspective, who is deemed to be the most and least successful in their livelihood approach. To do so, we draw on data gathered from life stories, conversational interviews, and village visits, focusing on 45 individuals and spanning a 30 year timespan of international work migration. Moves to Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Australia and a failed endeavour to reach New Zealand are analysed, in an attempt to contribute to debates on transnationalism while highlighting individual and generational differences in migration stories, the specific roles of brokers and informal social networks, and diverse spatial practices. ARTICLE HISTORY
In this research note I reflect upon my different experiences as a researcher with ethnic minorit... more In this research note I reflect upon my different experiences as a researcher with ethnic minorities in Southeast Asia, from my years as a postgraduate student to my current work as a professor. From being a graduate student, to supervising them, I have learned many lessons about graduate fieldwork. Nowadays, I pass these on to supervisees as best I can. I consider it my professional and personal duty to actively warn, inform and prepare young anthropologists about to leave for their masters' and doctoral field research in China, Vietnam and Laos about the field locations to which they are travelling, the political negotiations that they will need to undertake, and the cultural, economic and political differences they will encounter. I also stress that the anthropology that is played out in the field in socialist settings is not necessarily that which we read about in textbooks.
This article examines the circumstances and logic of French Catholic missionary expansion in Uppe... more This article examines the circumstances and logic of French Catholic missionary expansion in Upper Tonkin. It explores how, over a few decades, the missionary push in the mountainous outskirts of the Red River Delta was conceived, how it unfolded, and how it came to a standstill in the 1920s before its decline towards the final exit of the French in the late 1940s.
The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a land of human diversity. Today ethnic Kinh, the lowland Vi... more The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a land of human diversity. Today ethnic Kinh, the lowland Vietnamese majority, account for approximately 85 percent of the national population. The remaining 15 percent belong to one or another of the remaining forty-eight ethnic denominations ...
RESEARCH ESSAY SARAH TURNER AND JEAN MICHAUD Imaginative and Adaptive Economic Strategies for Hmo... more RESEARCH ESSAY SARAH TURNER AND JEAN MICHAUD Imaginative and Adaptive Economic Strategies for Hmong Livelihoods in Lào Cai Province, Northern Vietnam Processes of globalization have spatially enlarged the movement and flow of goods and services, yet we must not ...
In the far south of China and the neighbouring lands of Southeast Asia there is a mountainous zon... more In the far south of China and the neighbouring lands of Southeast Asia there is a mountainous zone that stretches some thousand kilometres from the South China Sea to the Himalayas. This land is not snow-capped nor entirely rocky but instead features a mixture of forest, rain-fed agriculture, and rice terraces that sometimes extend to the very top of steep slopes in deep valleys that criss-cross the region. More than 200 million people distributed over eight countries live in this zone, of which about half belong to ethnic minorities living chiefl y in scattered hamlets, villages, and market towns in a staggering array of cultural diversity. 1 This vast region, which we call the Southeast Asian Massif (Michaud 2000a), is now increasingly opening up to investment, regional planning, and development interventions, often as countries change from socialism to more liberal markets and political systems. Yet, despite its size and importance, there has been little in-depth research about how people make a living or about the interconnections of cultural diversity, political and economic change, and livelihoods in these highlands. This book presents a number of rich analyses of livelihoods and cultural diversity in selected parts of this region. More specifi cally, the authors of the chapters here investigate the relationships between livelihoods and ethnicity in the high borderlands of socialist China, Vietnam, and Laos, which together represent more than two-thirds of the Massif's surface and an even greater proportion of its population. The aim of the book is to present locally grounded analyses of how ethnic minorities there fashion livelihoods, and to question how ethnicity affects, and is infl uenced by, economic and political changes in relation to these livelihoods. We believe this discussion provides much-needed local information about this complex region. It also demonstrates the role of cultural and ethnic networks as an under-acknowledged infl uence in the livelihood strategies of so-called "poor people." This approach is crucial for better informing discussions on poverty alleviation and livelihoods in general; perhaps even more so for the countries of China, Michaud_Forsyth-no red.indd 1 Michaud_Forsyth-no red.indd 1
Trans-Himalayan Borderlands: Livelihoods, Territorialities, Modernities
The societies in the Him... more Trans-Himalayan Borderlands: Livelihoods, Territorialities, Modernities
The societies in the Himalayan borderlands have undergone wide-ranging transformations, as the territorial reconfiguration of modern nation-states since the mid-twentieth century and the presently increasing trans-Himalayan movements of people, goods, and capital reshape the livelihoods of communities, pulling them into global trends of modernization and regional discourses of national belonging. This book explores the changes to native senses of place, the conception of border – simultaneously as limitations and opportunities – and what the authors call “affective boundaries,” “livelihood reconstruction,” and “trans-Himalayan modernities.” It addresses changing social, political, and environmental conditions that acknowledge growing external connectivity even as it emphasizes the importance of place.
Dan Smyer Yü is professor and director of Center for Trans-Himalayan Studies at Yunnan Minzu University. Jean Michaud is professor of social anthropology at Université Laval, Canada.
Ethnic minorities in the uplands of northern Vietnam are experiencing rapid state- and market-ind... more Ethnic minorities in the uplands of northern Vietnam are experiencing rapid state- and market-induced economic and agrarian transformations. These communities are having to make important livelihood adaptations to adjust, while living at Vietnam’s economic and political margins. We analyse one such market-induced transformation that some upland communities are deciding to engage with, connected to an increasing demand for locally distilled alcohol. Against the backdrop of traditional production for domestic consumption, distilled alcoholic beverages are now (re)emerging as a cash-earning opportunity. Drawing on interviews and observations with ethnic minority Hmong and Yao women and men in Lào Cai Province, we analyse the degree to which household members have engaged with this market opportunity and the often complex reasons behind their choices. We reveal how an apparently simple shift in scale of a customary activity generates nuanced cultural, gendered and generational debates that, at times, are at odds with mere profitability.
This article discusses the persistent absence of a consensus on a script for the language of the ... more This article discusses the persistent absence of a consensus on a script for the language of the Hmong, a kinship-based society of 5 million spread over the uplands of Southwest China and northern Indochina, with a vigorous diaspora in the West. In search of an explanation for this unusual situation, this article proposes a political reading inspired by James C. Scott's 2009 book The Art of Not Being Governed. A particular focus is put on Scott's claim of tactical rejection of literacy among upland groups of Asia. To set the scene, the case of the Hmong is briefly exposed before detailing the successive appearance of orthographies for their language(s) over one century. It is then argued that the lack of consensus on a common writing system might be a reflection of deeper political motives rather than merely the result of historical processes.
). In Dan Smyer Yu, Su Faxiang and Li Yunxia, eds. 环喜马拉雅区域研究编译文集二——佐米亚、边疆与跨界 [Trans-Himalayan Studies Reader Vol.II: Zomia, Frontiers and Borderlands]. 学院出版社 [Beijing: Academy Press] pp.12-46., 2017
International work migration from rural Thailand is not new, yet relatively little is known about... more International work migration from rural Thailand is not new, yet relatively little is known about the decision-making processes regarding this livelihood strategy at the family level and across generations. Drawing on concepts of transnationalism and livelihood pathways and trajectories, this case-study traces the agency that underpins labour moves over two generations of a rural family in Chiang Rai province. The focus is on individual trajectories that exemplify how the first generation of migrant labour entered the market and the degree to which the second generation is replicating or modifying the migration patterns of their elders. We also show, from an emic perspective, who is deemed to be the most and least successful in their livelihood approach. To do so, we draw on data gathered from life stories, conversational interviews, and village visits, focusing on 45 individuals and spanning a 30 year timespan of international work migration. Moves to Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Australia and a failed endeavour to reach New Zealand are analysed, in an attempt to contribute to debates on transnationalism while highlighting individual and generational differences in migration stories, the specific roles of brokers and informal social networks, and diverse spatial practices. ARTICLE HISTORY
In this research note I reflect upon my different experiences as a researcher with ethnic minorit... more In this research note I reflect upon my different experiences as a researcher with ethnic minorities in Southeast Asia, from my years as a postgraduate student to my current work as a professor. From being a graduate student, to supervising them, I have learned many lessons about graduate fieldwork. Nowadays, I pass these on to supervisees as best I can. I consider it my professional and personal duty to actively warn, inform and prepare young anthropologists about to leave for their masters' and doctoral field research in China, Vietnam and Laos about the field locations to which they are travelling, the political negotiations that they will need to undertake, and the cultural, economic and political differences they will encounter. I also stress that the anthropology that is played out in the field in socialist settings is not necessarily that which we read about in textbooks.
This article examines the circumstances and logic of French Catholic missionary expansion in Uppe... more This article examines the circumstances and logic of French Catholic missionary expansion in Upper Tonkin. It explores how, over a few decades, the missionary push in the mountainous outskirts of the Red River Delta was conceived, how it unfolded, and how it came to a standstill in the 1920s before its decline towards the final exit of the French in the late 1940s.
The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a land of human diversity. Today ethnic Kinh, the lowland Vi... more The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a land of human diversity. Today ethnic Kinh, the lowland Vietnamese majority, account for approximately 85 percent of the national population. The remaining 15 percent belong to one or another of the remaining forty-eight ethnic denominations ...
RESEARCH ESSAY SARAH TURNER AND JEAN MICHAUD Imaginative and Adaptive Economic Strategies for Hmo... more RESEARCH ESSAY SARAH TURNER AND JEAN MICHAUD Imaginative and Adaptive Economic Strategies for Hmong Livelihoods in Lào Cai Province, Northern Vietnam Processes of globalization have spatially enlarged the movement and flow of goods and services, yet we must not ...
Tourisme et Sociétés Locales en Asie Orientale, …, 2001
Qu'ils s' en défendent ou non, la plupart des anthropologues tiennent le tourisme pour ... more Qu'ils s' en défendent ou non, la plupart des anthropologues tiennent le tourisme pour une occupation frivole et regardent les touristes comme des intrus. Ce préjugé courant n'est certainement pas étranger au fait que l'étude anthropologique du tourisme reste encore ...
Little is known of the contributions of French missionaries to early highland ethnography in the ... more Little is known of the contributions of French missionaries to early highland ethnography in the mountainous north of Vietnam (then Tonkin) at the time of colonial contact, a period defined here as 18951920. This paper investigates how a handful of men from the ...
This paper is an overview of issues pertaining to highland minorities in the three socialist coun... more This paper is an overview of issues pertaining to highland minorities in the three socialist countries sharing portions of the Southeast Asian Massif, namely China, Vietnam and Laos. It presents the historical complexity of highland minority policy in these countries. The paper thus depicts prevalent state strategies that aimed, and largely still aim, to handle highland minorities in the most effective and economical way, to ensure that the nation will progress steadily forward. The six current issues of borders and transnationality, taxonomy, indigenous peoples' status, customary land tenure, tourism and environmental issues are then explored critically.
What could still trigger a worthwhile anthropological debate now that eight years have passed sin... more What could still trigger a worthwhile anthropological debate now that eight years have passed since the publication of James C. Scott’s The art of not being governed in 2009? I propose a reading involving perhaps the most controversial chapter of Scott’s book: Chapter 6½ – ‘Orality, writing, and texts’. Scott means to say that the absence of literacy in a society could result from a preference rather than a deficiency. He describes a project that refuses state formation, putting to use the advantages of flexibility and adaptation that an oral tradition has over a written tradition. Drawing on the case of the Hmong, I propose that Scott’s argument might have been made more solid had he relied less on a geographical and historically rooted definition of Zomia, and more on a discussion of cultural elements such as egalitarianism and orality.
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Books by Jean Michaud
The societies in the Himalayan borderlands have undergone wide-ranging transformations, as the territorial reconfiguration of modern nation-states since the mid-twentieth century and the presently increasing trans-Himalayan movements of people, goods, and capital reshape the livelihoods of communities, pulling them into global trends of modernization and regional discourses of national belonging. This book explores the changes to native senses of place, the conception of border – simultaneously as limitations and opportunities – and what the authors call “affective boundaries,” “livelihood reconstruction,” and “trans-Himalayan modernities.” It addresses changing social, political, and environmental conditions that acknowledge growing external connectivity even as it emphasizes the importance of place.
Dan Smyer Yü is professor and director of Center for Trans-Himalayan Studies at Yunnan Minzu University. Jean Michaud is professor of social anthropology at Université Laval, Canada.
Papers by Jean Michaud
The societies in the Himalayan borderlands have undergone wide-ranging transformations, as the territorial reconfiguration of modern nation-states since the mid-twentieth century and the presently increasing trans-Himalayan movements of people, goods, and capital reshape the livelihoods of communities, pulling them into global trends of modernization and regional discourses of national belonging. This book explores the changes to native senses of place, the conception of border – simultaneously as limitations and opportunities – and what the authors call “affective boundaries,” “livelihood reconstruction,” and “trans-Himalayan modernities.” It addresses changing social, political, and environmental conditions that acknowledge growing external connectivity even as it emphasizes the importance of place.
Dan Smyer Yü is professor and director of Center for Trans-Himalayan Studies at Yunnan Minzu University. Jean Michaud is professor of social anthropology at Université Laval, Canada.