Sedentism in the Mekong region (Thailand/Laos):
mobility and heritage in a long-term perspective

An international conference organized by the Institute of Research for Development, France
and the Center for Ethnic Studies and Development, Chiang Mai University
1st-2nd December, 2011

Venue: Meeting Room, 4th Floor, Operation Building,
Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University

PDF Source : Sedentism Conference

Registration : Click to register

Rationale

This conference proposes to explore the meaning of sedentism in relation to mobility in past and present societies of the Mekong region area. The concept of sedentism is familiar mostly to Prehistorians while it is rarely used in social sciences that refer only to "sedentarization processes" or to "sedentary ways of life".

Much has been written on migrations (of people, capitals or signs) and how new forms of mobility are shaping the contemporary world. The idea of a “liquid modernity” (Bauman, 2000) concurs with that of a speeding-up of deterritorialization processes and the weakening of State control. Simultaneously however, scholars acknowledge the role of borders and social inequalities and they also reckon that globalization leads to a renewal of the issues of identities, memories and relation to place: sedentarized nomads become the objects of tourist gaze; ruins as well as forests are turned into museums and sustain new discourses on history and nature; village economies come to rely as much on sedentary agriculture as on temporary labour migrations to the neighbouring cities; displaced populations adopt new religions or claim, sometimes violently, specific territorial or cultural rights etc.

Therefore, there is a need to consider simultaneously mobility and attachment to places since it is the transformation of their relations, rather than the precedence of the former over the latter, which defines the contemporary world in contrast to older periods of time. For this reason, and in order to promote an interdisciplinary discussion as well as a long term perspective, archaeologists, historians and social anthropologists will contribute to the conference. They will especially focus on:

The origins of the process of sedentism, during the Neolithic period as well as during historical periods, notably when states carry out specific policies to settle down their populations;
The different forms of attachment to place, which are shaped by cultural and political choices but also by historical or ecological constraints, and their relationships with mobility;
The effects of a sedentary or partially sedentary settlement, or resettlement, on local societies, their livelihoods (including their health) and on their environment.

All contributions will draw on examples from Northern Lao and Thai contexts. This area is located on the ancient route that was followed by the populations who settled down during the Neolithic period. It contains very diverse ecosystems, which may have offered the migrants different opportunities when they settled down. Simultaneously, the most recent developments of each of these countries determine great contrasts in politics, culture, economy, society, health and environment, which is an ideal situation for scientific comparison. The contributions presented during the conference will be edited as a book to be published during 2012.

Tentative Schedule

DAY 1: Origins and forms of sedentism: toward a cultural chronology

8.30 am: Registration

9 am to 9.10 am: Welcoming Speech, by Associate Professor Dr. Jakkapan Sirithunyalug, Vice-President of Chiang Mai University

9.10 am to 9.30 am: Presentation of the conference, by Pr Dominique Guillaud, Director of Research Unit “Patrimoines Locaux”, Institute of Research for Development & National Musuem of Natual History, France

9.30 am to 10.15 am: Keynote speech
The Tai invasions. A reappraisal of 'Essai sur l'évolution des systèmes politiques thais,' by Georges Condominas, by Prof. Grant Evans, social anthropologist, National Academy of Social Sciences, Vientiane. (confirmed)

Coffee Break

-PANEL 1: Environment and techniques
Chair: Assistant Prof. Dr Supaporn Nakbunlung or Pr Dominique Guillaud (to be confirmed)

10.30 am to 10.55 am
Palaeoenvironmental research through pollen analysis in Laos, Dr Janelle Stevenson, Department of Archeology and Natural History, Australian National University, Australia (confirmed)

10.55 am to 11.20 am
A contribution to the knowledge of the late Prehistory of Laos, from Middle Mekong (Luang Prabang) to the Northwestern territory (Huaei Sai, Vieng Phu Kha), Dr Hubert Forestier, Research Unit “Patrimoines Locaux”, IRD, France. (confirmed)

11.20 am to 11.45 am
Vestiges of furnaces in the uplands of Laos: lessons for the study of the social organization of iron production in Mainland Southeast Asia, Dr Oliver Pryce, Research Laboratory for Archeology and History of Art, Oxford University, United Kingdom. (confirmed)

11.45 am to 12.00
Questions and comments

12.00 to 1.30 pm: Lunch

-PANEL 2: Memory, rituals and narratives
Chair: Prof. Yves Goudineau, EFEO, Vientiane. (confirmed)

1.30 pm to 1.55 pm
Founding, deserting and returning. The impeded sedentism of the Northern Tai populations: an analysis of the Luang Namtha chronicles, Laos. Dr Chanthapillith Chiemsisouraj, Director of History Department, National Academy of Social Sciences, Laos. (confirmed)

1.55 pm to 2.20 pm
Myth, migrations and belonging in Vieng Phu Kha, Laos. Dr Olivier Evrard, Research Unit “Patrimoines Locaux”, IRD, France & CESD, CMU, Thailand. (confirmed)

2.20 to 2.45 pm
Spirit Cults in Thailand, Pr Shigeharu Tanabe (provisory title, to be confirmed)

2.45 pm to 3.00 pm
Questions and comments

-PANEL 3: Sedentism, places and the State
Chair: Prof. Paul T. Cohen, Department of Anthropology, Macquarie University (confirmed)

3.00 pm to 3.25 pm
Civilizing the others: half a century of highland development in Thailand, Dr Prasit Leepreecha, Center for Ethnic Studies and Development, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University, Thailand (confirmed)

3.25 pm to 3.50 pm
The rural development policy and the transformation of upland/lowlands relationships in Laos since 1975, Olivier Evrard, IRD, France & CESD, CMU. (confirmed)

3.50 pm to 4.15 pm
Kallanyaniwattana District: A new modern space in a Thai ethnic cultural area. Dr Malee Sitthikriengkrai, Center for Ethnic Studies and Development, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University. (confirmed)

4.15 pm to 4.40 pm
Territorial organization, power relations and transethnic partnerships in Nam U valley, Laos. Marie Guémas, PhD candidate, IRSEA, Marseille, France. (confirmed)

4.40 pm to 5.00 pm
Comments and questions

DAY 2: Sedentism in a globalized society

-PANEL 4: Borders, migrations and crisis of settling
Chair: Prof. Grant Evans, National Academy of Social Sciences, Vientiane (confirmed)

09.30 am to 09.55 am
Displacements and invisibility along the border: the case of the Burmese Karen in Mae Sot, Thailand by Prof. Chayan Vadhanaphuti, CESD, CMU, Thailand. (confirmed)

09.55 am to 10.20 am
Talakhon Movement among the Karens in Thai-Myanmar Borderland: the Deterritorialization Process, Dr Kwanchewan Buadaeng, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University (confirmed)

10.20 am to 10.45 am
Access to health care among highlanders and ethnic migrants in Thailand, Dr Peter Kunstadter, PHPT Thailand (confirmed),

10.45 am to 11.10 am
Rebels, refugees and immigrants: political conflict and the migration of Hmong between Laos and Thailand, Dr Prasit Leepreecha, CESD, Chiang Mai University

11.10 am to 11.35 am
The incomplete sedentarization of nomadic populations: the case of the Mlabri, Sakkarin Na Nan, Chiang Mai University (confirmed)

11.35 to 12.00: Comments and questions

12.00 to 1.30 pm: Lunch

-PANEL 5: Mobility, belonging and transmission
Chair: Dr Wasan Panyagaew, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Chiang Mai (confirmed)

1.30 pm to 1.55 pm
The commoditization of therapeutic knowledge among diasporic populations: the case of the Hmong in Laos, Dr Audrey Bochaton, Paris X Nanterre, France. (confirmed)

1.55 to 2.20 pm
Transmission and vitality of traditional medicinal knowledge among several ethnic groups of Northern Laos, Jean-Marc Dubost, Museum d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris. (confirmed)

2.20 pm to 2.45 pm
From "hilltribes" to "Thai citizens": citizenship as subject formation of ethnic minorities in north Thailand, Dr Mukdawan Sakboon, CESD, CMU, Thailand (confirmed)

2.45 pm to 3.10 pm
Insurgency, migratory waves and digital media: the Shan nation along Thailand-Burma borders, Dr Amporn Jirattikorn on the role of media and script among Shan migrants (confirmed)

3.10 pm to 3.20 pm
Questions and comments

3.20 pm 3.30 pm
Conclusions of the conference and perspectives for research on sedentism, by Pr Dominique Guillaud, Director of Research Unit “Patrimoines Locaux”, IRD-MNHN, France

3.30 to 3.45 pm: Coffee break

-3.45 pm to 4.15 pm
Concluding remarks, Prof. Charles Keyes, University of Washington.