Lao scholars abroad seeking worldliness at home: Education in the West as pilgrimage from post-revolutionary Laos

Author: Mayes, Warren

Source: South East Asia Research, Volume 15, Number 1, March 2007 , pp. 89-118(30)

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Abstract:

Notions of belonging associated with national borders are being transformed by the diversity of overseas education experienced by urban elites from contemporary Laos. While the earlier educational journeys of colonial subjects inspired a passionate nationalism, this article argues that new pilgrimages reveal a culturally specific passion for exploration among young technocrats that circumvents the boundaries of the post-revolutionary state. The article charts the historical process of accessing, undertaking and returning from study abroad, and demonstrates that the cosmopolitan status of scholars is obtained in the context of a struggle to define Laos as a legitimate worldly space.

Keywords: ELITES; EDUCATION; COSMOPOLITANISM; PILGRIMAGE; DEVELOPMENT; LAOS

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5367/000000007780420525

Publication date: 2007-03-01

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South East Asia Research publishes articles based on original research or fieldwork on all aspects of South East Asia within the disciplines of archaeology, art history, economics, geography, history, language and literature, law, music, political science, social anthropology and religious studies. This peer-reviewed journal is published four times per year by IP Publishing in cooperation with the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). SOAS is the leading centre in this field in Europe and one of the most prestigious centres of South East Asian Studies in the world.
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