Returning to the Homeland: applying the anthropology of gift to the French Lao’s development projects
Author: Wilhelm, Isabelle
Under the direction of: Catherine Delcroix and Pierre Petit
Strasbourg University
Texte français
Keywords: Anthropology, Laos, Transnational relations, Humanitarian associations Theories of giving, Laos, Southeast Asia, Transnational activities, Lao from France, Lao - charities, Giving and counter-giving.
Abstract
Since the mid-1990s, Lao people from France (who went into exile following the political events of 1975) have implemented "humanitarian" projects in their country of origin. Having formed aid groups, they build schools and distribute clothes, medical equipment and computers in Laotian villages. Transnational philanthropic activities can be seen as forms of transfer. This research analyzes the characteristics of these transfers through the prism of gift theories, to question actors’ intentions and perceptions of what is given, received, and returned, in the context of the implementation of their "transnational gift". Through the analysis of logics of reciprocity and of expressions of recognition, the effects of this aid on relationships between donors and recipients are highlighted. Based on this case study, this research contributes to the anthropology of migration by yielding new insights into the ways in which immigrants attempt to create and/or nourish relationships with their country of origin over the long term.
