This post is for anyone looking to learn more about Laos and a request to send Holly High your feedback on a book she plans to write about Kaysone thought
I recently listened to two episodes of the AES podcast featuring Holly High, both focused on Laos:
- Laos: The Revolutionary Origins of the Forgotten Socialist Country – Listen here
- Laos: Socialist Democracy & Culture – Listen here
Holly High has published two monographs: Fields of Desire: Poverty and Policy in Laos and Projectland: Life in a Lao Socialist Model Village. Both combine a compelling first-person narrative of her fieldwork with a political ethnography of Laos. She is also the editor and a contributor to Stone Masters, which examines stone veneration in mainland Southeast Asia, and co-editor and contributor to The Handbook of Contemporary Laos.
In addition to her published work, High has translated several writings by Kaysone Phomvihane. She shared some of these translations with me via email, which I have linked at the end of this post. If you're interested in seeing whether she has more translated material available, you can reach out to her directly (her email is at the end of this post). She did mention, however, that some of the translations may be difficult to fully understand without much context about Kaysone or Lao political history.
Her current research focuses on cultural values, birth and parenting, specifically looking at reproductive health in relation to Lao socialism.
Holly is now hoping to receive feedback on a book she is planning to write. I strongly encourage folks to reach out to her with their thoughts. Here is her request in her own words:
"I have a plan to write a book in English about Kaysone Phomvihane's thought, so feedback would be so valuable. It will help me know what to write about—there are so many possible topics, because Kaysone really did have a position on virtually everything—and also help me show potential publishers that there is genuine interest in this topic.
At the moment, I have a lot of trouble getting my work published. Most editors respond that a piece on Laos is simply too 'niche.' I recently pitched an article to Jacobin on Lao socialist positions on women, and they rejected it outright as not of interest to their readership. This is very frustrating, because on the other hand, I am constantly hearing from people like you saying they want to know more about Lao socialism."
You can email her at holly.high@deakin.edu.au
Check out her personal website
Here are a couple of the translated Kaysone works and a chapter of a book she contributed too on Laos decision making:
