Society in contemporary Laos : capitalism, habitus and belief / Boike Rehbein.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rehbein, Boike, author.

Series:

Routledge contemporary Southeast Asia series ; 88.

Routledge contemporary Southeast Asia ; 88

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Religion and sociology.

Capitalism--Social aspects.

Economic conditions.

Social conditions.

Laos--Social conditions--21st century.

Laos--Economic conditions--21st century.

Capitalism--Social aspects--Laos.

Religion and sociology--Laos.

Economic history.

Laos.

Physical Description:

vi, 170 pages ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, 2017.

Summary:

"Over the past decade, Laos' exposure to global capitalism has resulted in extensive economic and social transformations. This book pursues the theoretical aim of shedding light on the old question raised by Max Weber about the relation between capitalism, ethos and society. The empirical study consists of a description of the social structures, their embodiment in the habitus and world-views in Laos against the background of a critical revision of Pierre Bourdieu's sociology. To achieve these aims, the author develops a qualitative methodology as neither Weber nor Bourdieu explained how to empirically study habitus and ethos. The empirical material for the book was gathered over a period of more than five years and comprises several hundred life-course interviews in all sections of Lao society as well as a representative quantitative survey. The author argues that precapitalist social structures persist and continue to shape the social fabric of contemporary Laos. At the same time, they are transformed by global and local capitalism. The book shows how the hierarchies contained in each structure shape the habitus of the Lao population and how these in turn influence the development of a capitalist and a religious ethos. The argument makes use of Pierre Bourdieu's sociology and adapts it to the setting of Laos by introducing new as well as indigenous concepts"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Sociocultures and history

Colonial transformation

Socialist transformation

Capitalist transformation

Capitalism, habitus and society

Sociocultures and classes

Habitus groups

Classification and language-games

Religion and division of work

Objective layers of religion

Ethos and religion

Habitus and belief : a case study of Ban Pha Khao.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780415342193

0415342198

OCLC:

961159088