This text provides a mulitdisciplinary analysis of the ethnic groups of Southeast Asia which have maintained highly original cultural identities and political and economic traditions, against pressure from national majorities.

Scattered across the South-East Asian massif, a few dozen ethnic groups (numbering around 50 million) maintain highly original cultural identities and political and economic traditions, against pressure from national majorities. They face the same challenges. The means by which social change has been imposed by the lowlanders are similar from country to country, and the results are comparable. The originality of this book lies in the combination of multi-disciplinary mixing of social anthropology, history and human geography; multi-culturality grouping together several cultural contexts; trans-nationality straddling five countries and bridging the traditional divide between South China and Mainland South-East Asia; and history reaching back 300 years.

'Excellent...A book any researcher interested in the study of national minority groups must read. ...A very precious tool.' - Pacific Affairs'It is a handy introduction to ethnic minority studies in the region, and a useful collection of perspectives.' - Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute