“…As described by Rigg (2005: 67), 'minorities are thinly represented in government, have significantly worse health and education profiles than the Lao, and are de facto if not de jure socially, politically and economically excluded'. In fact, despite a number of official statements regarding the multi-ethnic and egalitarian character of the country, the lowland/upland dichotomy is almost institutionalised in Laos and references, both official and informal, to the duality between 'modern lowlands' and 'backwards uplands' are recurrent (Goudineau, 2000;Aubertin, 2001;Rigg, 2005;Stuart-Fox, 2005). Therefore, land degradation studies sponsored by international development agencies (such as those cited in the introduction of this paper) provide ideal grounds for the Lao leadership to expand its control over the upland territory, in the guise of development interventions.…”