Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding in Laos

"Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding in Laos offers an ethnographically rich portrayal of Lao cultural ceremonies and rituals that stresses the importance of grassroots practices to conflict resolution... this short, accessible, book does bring new themes of analysis to the study of Laos. It also provides rich ethnographic descriptions of Lao conflict resolution practises that are likely to be of interest to both students and scholars of peace and conflict studies, particularly from an intellectual standpoint that seeks to contest Western conceptual frameworks."

Kearran Sims, Western Sydney University, Contemporary Southeast Asia

"It presents a collection of chapters about different topics relevant to multidisciplinary studies that will help to expand our understanding of conflict resolution in Lao's PDR and also apply this knowledge to understand conflict resolution in other places in the world... The audience of the book will be academics, students, lawyers, humanitarian workers, peacekeepers and nonprofit organizations with an interest in Southeast Asian Studies, War Studies and Conflict Studies."

Patricia Ordonez de Pablos, The University of Oviedo, International Journal of Asian Business and Information Management

"This volume successfully overcomes many of the limitations of academic studies by drawing on real examples and folktales from local communities in Laos. The book is highly effective in the way it explores concepts by first presenting a story or real example of a dispute, then analysing relevant features of the Laotian conflict resolution process, and finally explaining how such features are reflected in the example. A highly valuable body of research is presented here in clear and insightful ways, and Phetsamay Stobbe's book is sure to be widely used as a significant resource for both academics and practitioners in the field of conflict resolution."

SungYong Lee, National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Otago, New Zealand