Mobility, familiarity and prejudice: living together in a multiethnic town in southern Laos

Abstract

ABSTRACTResearch on coexistence and urban diversity (notably in the United Kingdom, Australia, Malaysia and Singapore) has demonstrated the ways individuals of diverse backgrounds routinely manage differences and interact meaningfully in multicultural societies, drawing on shared cultural knowledge and habits. This paper argues for a deeper exploration of societies where intercultural know-how is more limited and the capacity to negotiate difference has not been inculcated. This description fits several Southeast Asian societies wherein the politics of majority-minority is a dominant feature. This article investigates the possibilities of familiarity and friendship in a multiethnic town in southern Laos where the predominant ideology towards cultural diversity has been one of assimilation. In doing so, the paper reveals ways of creating a sense of belonging and community other than the practices of cultural accommodation. These processes draw on competences and dispositions which individuals have acquired through their mobility, producing a sense of togetherness, albeit contingent and fragmented.