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Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre
Ethnic Groups Research Database |
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Record |
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Subject |
Hmong, migration, settlement, socio-economy, adjustment, Chiang Mai, Mae Hong Son |
Author |
Robert Cooper |
Title |
Resource Scarcity and the Hmong Response |
Document Type |
Book |
Original Language of Text |
English |
Ethnic Identity |
Hmong,
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Language and Linguistic Affiliations |
Hmong-Mien |
Location of
Documents |
Srindhorn Anthropology Center Library |
Total Pages |
314 |
Year |
1984 |
Source |
Singapore University Press, Kent Ridge, Singapore |
Abstract |
The author concludes that the analysis of social changes of the small Hmong community in this investigation cannot be a general theory that can be applied elsewhere. Resource scarcity does not have the same impacts on different Hmong communities. In remote areas, competition for space is low. The work analyzes existing resources and methods of their utilization, with a focus on working management patterns. The patterns are the relationship between production techniques and labor needs, so that an overview of economic activities can be obtained, which is related to administrative, judicial and belief structures. Resource scarcity is the main reason for employment and capital in the socio-economic circumstances of the Hmong. Land use has been productivity-focused and surpluses occur from family labor and external employment. Collection and re-investment have brought about land ownership by individuals. When encountering problems, Hmong communities employ various methods to deal with them. Conflicts between settlement patterns and economic systems in certain areas are the cause of their socio-economic conflicts. Changes to capital-oriented and permanent agricultural production methods have forced poor Hmongs to seek more income to replace dwindling production yields from shifting cultivation by becoming laborers. In times of resource scarcity, they are more dependent on incomes from being laborers, bringing about a social stratification between land owners and laborers. This stratification has a strong impact on other social aspects of the ethnic group (pp.214, 247-250).
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