Hmong (Forever) on the Margins

Abstract

Ethnic minorities in Laos form a key part of narratives of the Lao population as the ‘Lao multi-ethnic people’. This involves the creation and clear delineation of ethnic difference in which ethnic difference is celebrated within a framework of lowland Lao hegemony. With specific reference to the Hmong, I argue that the Hmong can never really escape assumptions from the lowland Lao that, were they able to choose, that they would choose to live in an independent state. By making use of Scott’s ideas of Zomia I argue further that the idea of Zomia as an alternative to living in the Lao state may exist in the minds of some Hmong, an idea widely assumed by the Lao state and many lowland Lao to be held by all Hmong. Ethnic minorities continue to have an ambiguous relationship vis-à-vis the Lao state to which they belong, but at the same time, are considered outsiders.