Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Laos provides a comprehensive introduction to the Lao People’s Democratic Republic’s recent development and transformation.

The handbook showcases state-of-the-field interdisciplinary research across six themes: The Basics, The Populace, Political Economy, Resources, International and Challenges. Individual chapters provide specialist and non-specialist readers with a rigorous overview of 32 fundamental topics in Lao Studies, from ‘The Lao People’s Revolutionary Party’, ‘Inter-Ethnic Relations’ and ‘Decision Making’, to ‘Land’, ‘Foreign Policy’ and ‘Gender.’ Marking the 50th anniversary of the country’s landmark revolution of 1975, the handbook explores the contested achievements of socialist rule under the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (LPRP), examines the political, economic and environmental impact of the LPRP’s resource intensive strategies for growth and development, and considers the benefits and challenges of Laos’s evolving geo-political and geo-economic relations with China, Vietnam, Thailand and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). While focusing on contemporary Laos, the chapters are rooted in a clear understanding of how present-day issues have emerged from Laos’s extraordinary history, spanning pre-colonial Buddhist kingdoms, French colonialism, royalist nationalism and socialist revolution.

Bringing together a purposely diverse collection of scholars, each an established or emerging authority in their own sub-field, the timely study takes stock of the country’s development and considers what the next phase in the country’s history might hold.