The Lao Economic Field‪.‬

It is well known that in the wake of globalization, remote countries like Laos undergo rapid changes. (1) Less is known, however, about the immediate consequences of these changes. Virtually no research on the social and cultural dimensions of the changes has been carried out in Laos, especially empirical research that is theoretically informed. This article presents a few results of research on social and cultural changes that might be of empirical and theoretical interest. I limit myself to the economic field. The first step sketches a conceptual tool to interpret the changes; the second step looks at the socio-cultural and international conditions of the changes; the third step analyses the economic field in Laos itself. This article concentrates on the ethnic Lao as they stood at the centre of my fieldwork. (2) Field