Population Dynamics and Livelihood Changes of Small-Scale Societies in Laos

This book examines various trends in small-scale societies in Laos by linking population changes to livelihood changes. The primary research issues addressed in the book are as follows:

・ How are population dynamics and livelihood changes in small-scale societies interrelated?

・ What are the current demographic trends in rural areas of Laos?

・ How are the livelihoods of small-scale societies maintained?

・ How is the rapid population growth common in developing countries managed?

In order to investigate these issues in developing countries where statistical data are not well developed, it was necessary to collect information through detailed and distinctive fieldwork. To this end, a multidisciplinary study of geography, cultural anthropology, human ecology, and demography was conducted in three villages in Laos and compiled as an ethnography. The study included a four-generation retrospective survey of population and land use change, a two-year survey of food dairies, and a survey of the spatiotemporal distribution of residents' daily activities using GIS and GPS, etc.

The book provides valuable information on the slowdown in the rate of population growth in contemporary rural Laos. Livelihoods, family planning and population migration are explored in the context of the decreasing population growth rate. In addition, the book describes the process of adopting modern contraceptive methods in rural areas, as well as the Lao government's reproductive policies and villagers' responses to them. It also illustrates rural–rural and rural–urban population migration influenced by the government's resettlement policies, which encourages people to move from the highlands to the lowlands.

Dr. Satoshi Yokoyama is a Professor in the Department of Geography, the School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University. His research interests lie in the field of human-nature interactions, with a particular emphasis on land use change, natural resource use, and livelihood change. His most recent research interests include traditional fermented foods in the Himalayas and Southeast Asia. He has authored or edited 11 books, and published over a hundred academic book chapters and research articles. He has been a member of the Science Council of Japan (SCJ) since October 2020 and a program officer of the Research Center for Science Systems, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) since April 2023. Additionally, he held the position of a Visiting Scholar at East-West Center, U.S.A. from 2005 to 2006; a Visiting Associate Professor at the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature in 2011; and a Visiting Professor at Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University from 2013 to 2014.

Dr. Takahito Niwa is an Associate Professor in the Collage of Human and Social Sciences, Kanazawa University. He received his Ph.D. in Science from the Graduate School of Science, Tohoku University in 2012. His specialties are economic geography and population geography. His research focuses on the spatial patterns of population migration and adaption of workers in local labor markets around Southeast Asia. He has continued to research internal labor migration in Thailand, transnational migration between Laos and Thailand, lifestyle migration among Japanese youth, and retirement migration among Japanese elderly, based on empirical case studies. He has recently published his edited book on “Current global human resources” (in Japanese) in 2018.

Dr. Hongwei Jiang is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography, the School of Humanities, Osaka University. His research interests lie in the field of human ecology with emphasis on subsistence transition and human health, spatio-temporal analysis of human activities, ecohealth. His recent research interests include land use change and emerging infectious disease (EID) risk, and he published an article entitled “Factors Contributing to the Pre-Elimination of Malaria from Hainan Island, China, 1986–2009” on the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. Additionally, he is a Visiting Assistant professor at the Research Institute of Humanity and Nature.