Fields Forest & Family by Carol Ireson

Author:Carol Ireson [Ireson, Carol]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780367096434
Google: l6L-xwEACAAJ
Goodreads: 52580657
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2019-06-13T00:00:00+00:00

Ethnic Differences in Women’s Responses

Observations

Women of all ethnic groups can benefit from women-oriented rural development projects and economic changes, but they begin from different points, with different sets of resources and skills, and differences in decision-making authority and village-level political power.

Lao women in project villages generally have access to better agricultural land, have less onerous work demands, have skills that can be used to produce products for sale, have experience with marketing and speak the local language of commerce (Lao), and are more likely to be literate.8 In addition, Lao villages are more likely to have access to transportation, schools, rice mills, or other services and facilities. Lao villages have a political advantage over villages of other groups since the state is predominantly administered by Lao men or minority men who have assimilated to lowland society norms. This advantage may be declining in northern provinces where, increasingly, minority men are attaining top posts. However, it still appears that ethnic Lao are disproportionately selected for “development” while ethnic minorities are slated for resettlement9 to areas where they can be more closely controlled. Hmong villagers, in particular, are sometimes suspected as possible supporters of anti-government guerrilla activity (C. Ireson and R. Ireson 1991).

Khmu villagers suffer from stereotyping as “backward,” an image reinforced by their lack of skills generalizable beyond their daily subsistence activities and their usually limited experience beyond their village. Khmu village social organization appears less supportive of political solidarity and mutual defense, and has historically made the Khmu vulnerable to land grabs by better organized and politically connected Lao villagers. Their limited access to good agricultural land thus may be partly a result of political factors, rather than preference for upland agriculture.

Hmong villagers commonly grow opium and raise cattle. These two products ensure a regular annual income and provide a buffer against misfortune like the drought and epidemic described in Sam Ton. Nonetheless, Hmong villagers, like the Khmu, are usually not literate in Lao, are usually less healthy and well nourished than the ethnic Lao, and rarely send their children to school. Similarly, Hmong and Khmu women are less likely than Lao women to make financial or agricultural decisions within the household and, the Phou Thit Pheung women’s union notwithstanding, are less likely to have the authority to deal directly with government officials or to engage in commercial activities.

In Thin Keo and Sam Ton, Khmu villages with more than the usual range of problems in project implementation, some problems were related to women’s and men’s low levels of education, skills, and experience in dealing with the world beyond the village. These villagers have left cement in the open where it hardened, or incorrectly mixed it, and have had more difficulty establishing working relationships with ethnic Lao officials from the women’s union and with other officials. These and other Khmu and Hmong villages have in some cases been handicapped by the physical isolation of their villages and by women’s inability to speak and write Lao. However, exceptionally motivated villagers, both female

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