Lao Peasants under Socialism and Post-socialism THE LAO PEOPLE’S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC AND PROVINCES CHINA PHONG VIETNAM SALY LUANG NAM ~“]THA / BOKEO LUANG PRABANG HOUAPHAN GULF OF £ 8 XIENG TONKIN co KHOUNG co ►VIENTIANE PROVINCE Vientiane *0 Issan SAVANNAKHET SARAVANE THAILAND XEKONG Qoloven r Plateau ATTOPEO ps 100 Kilometers CAMBODIA Lao Peasants under Socialism and Post-socialism Grant Evans SILKWORM BOOKS Lao Peasants under Socialism and Post-socialism Grant Evans Originally published as Lao peasants under Socialism Copyright © 1990, 1995 by Yale University. All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations, in any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press), without written permission from the publishers. This Southeast Asian edition is published by Silkworm Books 54/1 Sridonchai Road, Chiang Mai 50100, Thailand. Silkworm Books is a registered trade mark of Trasvin Publications Limited Partnership National Library of Thailand Cataloguing-in-Publication Data Evans, Grant, 1948- Lao peasants under Socialism and Post-socialism/Grant Evans. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 974-7047-45-5 1 . Laos-Rural conditions. 2. Peasantry-Laos-History. 3. Collectivization of agriculture-Laos-History. 4. Socialism- Laos-History. I. Title. HN700.4.A8E9 1990 307.72 '09594-dc20 89-70466 CIP Designed by James J. Johnson. Set in Sabon Roman type by The Composing Room of Michigan, Inc. Printed in Thailand by O.S. Printing House, Bangkok. Contents List of Illustrations viii Abbreviations ix Post Socialism xi Post Socialism in Laos xi Lao Peasants Under Post Socialism xxi Economic Anthropology xxiv The Anthropology of Socialism Re-visited xxviii 1990 Preface xxxv 1. The New Socialist man, Natural Economy, and Collectivization. 1 Socialism and the Natural Economy 8 The reasons for collectivization 17 2. The Sociology ’’ isolation 27 The Lao State 30 Independence 34 The Lao Peasant World 35 The Reasons for the Revolution 41 V 3. The Campaign and After 44 The Campaign 49 Market Socialism 55 Collectivization 58 4. Peasant Society Under Socialism 65 Devolution After the Revolution 66 Livestock 71 A Rural Proletariat 75 The Occupational Structure 75 Cash Income 77 A "Proletarian Village" 79 A Poor Villager 81 Weaving and Petty Commodity production 83 Ceremonial Redistribution 86 5. "The System of Civilized Cooperators is the System of Socialism" 90 Cooperative Aims 91 "Stages" of Cooperation 94 Don Dou Cooperative 96 Ban Thana Cooperative 104 Ban Nok Cooperatives 108 New Pressures on the Cooperatives 115 Trading Cooperatives 118 A Strategic Compromise 119 6. Peasant Economy and Society versus Collective Economy 123 The Peasant Family 124 Authority in Production 128 Lao Peasant Women and Cooperatives 129 The Labor/Consumer Balance 133 Children 136 Traditional Labor Exchange Groups 139 7. Cooperation in the Cooperatives 150 The Mark Point System 155 Supervision and organization of Work 165 vi Economies of Scale 165 Underemployment 172 Irrigation 174 8. "The New Countryside": Cooperative Village State 181 Administration 183 The Buddhist Sangha 185 Village political Organization 188 Cooperatives and the State 192 Women's Association 196 Persistence of Patronage 198 9. Peasants and Socialism 202 Peasant Culture and Cooperatives 202 The Possibility of Cooperation 210 Collectivization and the Domestic Mode of Production 215 Household Flexibility 219 Re-posing the Agrarian Question 220 An Anthropology of Socialism 227 Appendix: Exchange Rates, 1981-1987 235 Notes 237 Glossary 259 Index 261 vii Illustrations FIGURES Frontispiece: The Lao People's Democratic Republic and Provinces 4.1 Landholding in Ban Hat Kansa 68 4-2 Occupational Structure in Muang Hatsayfong 76 6.1 Compound Layout 126 6.2 Kinship in Compound 127 6.3 Illustration of Domestic Cycle 134 7.1 Kinship in Ban Nok 1 Cooperative 153 7.2 Kinship in Don Dou Cooperative 155 7.3 Graphs at Don Dou 161 TABLES 3.1 Number of Cooperatives by Province 59 4.1 Comparative Holding Size on Vientiane Plain c. 1973 69 4.2 Distribution of Land in Four Villages 69 4.3 Land Distribution of Rice Farms in Selected Villages 70 4.4 Buffalo and Cattle Ownership 72 4.5 Sectoral Distribution of the Labor Force 77 4.6 Income Distribution in Two Villages 78 viii 4.7 Nonagricultural Economic Activities 79 5.1 Seasonal Breakdown of Family Composition and Payment in Don Don Cooperative, 1980-82 99 5.2 Basic Data about Ban Thana Cooperative 105 5.3 Ban Thana Cooperative, Wet Season 1982 and Dry Season 1983 106 6.1 Labor-Exchange Group 135 6.2 Work Force /Dependent Relationship in Don Dou 136 6.3 Age Composition of Compound 138 7.1 Comparisons of Mark Points of Two Families 159 Photographs follow page 122 ix