This is the first study to examine the views of ethnic minority groups on the national(ist) project in Laos. As such, this original contribution is set to become a landmark study that refines established theories of nationalism, such as Anderson’s ’imagined community’, by addressing a common weakness: namely, their tendency to deny agency to individuals.The book will be of especial interest to students and scholars of Asian history and politics, as well as all scholars working on national identity formation.

Critical acclaim:

’Post-war Laos is a thorough and original study of the difficult making of a multi-ethnic nation. Combining a historical approach and a multi-sided ethnography, it provides unique insights into the ideology of ethnicity in Laos. This book is clearly a major contribution to the understanding of one of the less known countries in Asia.’ (Dr Yves Goudineau, Ecole française d’Extrême-Orient)

’Post-war Laos makes not only an important contribution to the study of Lao identity, society and history, but also more broadly to the vexed problem of multiple identities among the people of Southeast Asia.’ (Prof. Martin Stuart-Fox, University of Queensland)