‘Before others’: construction pioneers in the uplands of northwestern Laos
Given that houses have become a key signifier of an orientation towards the future, several villagers in Pliya can be regarded or regard themselves as pioneers of the construction of a new type of house. I will suggest here that the construction of new concrete houses is not to be understood merely...
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| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Article (Journal) |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2021
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| In: |
Social anthropology
Year: 2021, Volume: 29, Issue: 3, Pages: 718-732 |
| ISSN: | 1469-8676 |
| DOI: | 10.1111/1469-8676.13091 |
| Online Access: | Verlag, kostenfrei, Volltext: https://doi.org/10.1111/1469-8676.13091 Verlag, kostenfrei, Volltext: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1469-8676.13091 
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| Author Notes: | Rosalie Stolz |
| Summary: | Given that houses have become a key signifier of an orientation towards the future, several villagers in Pliya can be regarded or regard themselves as pioneers of the construction of a new type of house. I will suggest here that the construction of new concrete houses is not to be understood merely as an adoption of lowland styles but as a self-conscious and selective use of a style of building. Those who are pioneering these houses also discuss their efforts in terms of pioneering acts, emphasising the self-taught nature of their appropriation of new aspects of craftsmanship. Drawing on long-term fieldwork among the Khmu of Pliya, and especially on more recent fieldwork in 2019 and 2020, I wish to argue that the way in which new houses have entered the local cosmos and are materialised by pioneering builders highlights a pioneering ethos that infuses local attempts at future-making, from wet rice cultivation to concrete villas. |
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| Item Description: | Gesehen am 11.11.2021 |
| Physical Description: | Online Resource |
| ISSN: | 1469-8676 |
| DOI: | 10.1111/1469-8676.13091 |