Moving Lives: Migration and Livelihoods in the Lao PDR.

Laos is one of the poorest and most ‘rural’ countries in the world. Yet there is evidence of heightened levels of mobility as the country is drawn into the wider mainland southeast Asian region. Mobility is becoming increasingly important in supporting and defining livelihoods for some households and villages. The paper reviews the evidence for growing levels of mobility in Laos and, drawing on the experience of the wider region, reflects upon the implications of this for source communities in terms of economy and society. The paper highlights the shifting nature of the meaning of mobility for migrants and, therefore, for villages of origin and those ‘left behind’. The paper proposes that rather than searching out hard-and-fast views of migration and its impacts, the focus should be on 14 identified questions or lines of influence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]