Conceptualising Party-State Governance and Rule in Laos

ABSTRACT

This article develops a framework for conceptualising authoritarian governance and rule in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. After introducing the national and academic context, which go a significant way towards understanding the paucity of comparative political work on Laos, we propose an approach to studying post-socialist authoritarian and single-party rule that highlights the key political-institutional, cultural-historical and spatial-environmental sources of party-state power and authority. In adopting this approach, we seek to redirect attention to the centralising structures of rule under the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party, illustrating how authoritarian institutions of the “party-state” operate in and through multiple scales, from the central to the local level. At a time when the country is garnering greater attention than at any time since the Vietnam War, we argue that this examination of critical transitions in Laos under conditions of resource-intensive development, intensifying regional and global integration, and durable one-party authoritarian rule, establishes a framework for future research on the party-state system in Laos, and for understanding and contextualising the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party regime in regional comparative perspective.     

Drugs,law, people,place and the state: ongoing regulation,resistance and change

We introduce this special issue firstly by tracing drugs from their traditional, cultural and religious uses through to their roles as commodities in colonial relations and now the global economy. We secondly explore the shifting nature of drugs and drug use in different places and times as shaped by politics, especially state regulation and the law. Thirdly, given the complexity as well as contingency of drugs, we survey a wide range of relevant theoretical approaches, but suggest that a critical analysis attend to their spatial framing and geography. Fourthly, and finally, we summarize the eight papers comprising this collection.     

Nationalism,identity and landscape in contemporary Galicia

In escaping the territorial trap of the nation-state, political geography has devoted mounting attention to sub-state geographies of nationalism. This paper traces the history, geographies, and politics of Spanish Galicia, in light of the contradictory processes of contemporary European integration and secessionism. After a review of sub-state nationalism, it contextualizes Galician nationalism within Spanish regionalism. It offers an historical overview that highlights the uniqueness of Galician culture and explicates the roots of the current nationalist movement. Finally, it delves into contemporary Galician politics, including its electoral dimensions, cyberpolitics, and banal nationalism, in which territory plays a decisive role.     

Other publications received

Raw Materials and International Control. By H. R. G. Greaves. Pp. vi. +166. London: Methuen. 5s.

Soviet Money and Finance. By L.E.Hubbard. 8? × /3/4>”. Pp. xx+339. Macmillan. 1936. 12s. 6d.

Big Horse's Flight. By Sven Hedin. Translated by F. H. Lyon. Pp. 248. Illustrations and map. London: Macmillan and Co. 1936. 21s.

South to Samarkand. By Ethel Mannin. Pp. 355, 20 illustrations and sketch maps. London: Jarrolds. 1936. Price 12s. 6d.

Sven Hedin's Archæological Collections from Khotan. By Gösta Montell. Reprinted from the Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, No. 7. Stockholm. 1936.

The Quest for Cathay. By Brigadier‐General Sir Percy Sykes, K.C.I.E., C.B., C.M.G. Pp. xii+280. A. and C. Black. 15s.

Tamerlane or Timur the Great Amir. Translated by J. H. Sanders, from the Arabic Life by Ahmed ibn Arabshah. 8vo. Pp. xvii + 341. With a map and a frontispiece. Luzac and Co. 1936. 12s. 6d. net.

Cronica de Dom João de Castro. By Leonardo Nunes. Edited with an Introduction by Professor J. D. M. Ford. Demi‐oct. Pp. xxviii+241. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass. 1936. 10s. 6d.

The Making of Modern Turkey. By Sir Harry Luke, C.M.G. 8/1/2>” × 6”. Pp. viii + 248. Frontispiece. Macmillan. 1936. 10s. 6d.

Quinze Ans de Mandat; I'?uvre Francaise en Syrie et au Liban. Anonymous. Pp. 69.

Euphrates Exile. By A. D. Macdonald. 7/3/4>" × 5/1/4>”. Pp. 301. Illustrated. G. Bell and Sons, Ltd. 7s. 6d.

Richard Burton, Explorer. By Hugh J. Schonfield. 8/3/4>” × 5/3/4>”. Pp. 303. Frontispiece. London: H. Joseph. 1936. 15s.

Hebrew Origins. By Th. J. Meek. The Haskell Lectures for 1933–1934. Pp. viii+219. New York: Harper and Brothers. 1936. $2.

Thy Neighbour. By Lord Melchett. 7/3/4> × 5. Pp.284. 2 illustrations and 2 maps. London: Muller. 1936. 7s. 6d.

A Plan for Lasting Peace in Palestine. By Nevill Barbour. Jerusalem. 1936. Equivalent 1s.

A Palestinian Kaleidoscope, “ Palestine on the Eve.” By Ladislas Farago. Two maps. Sixty‐three illustrations. Putnam. 10s. 6d.

New Zionist Publications—No. 2. New Zionist Press, 47, Finchley Road, London, N.W. 8. 1s.

From Alexander Burnes to Frederick Roberts. A Survey of Imperial Frontier Policy. By J. L. Morison.

The 1st Battalion Duchess of Connaught's Own (late 124th D.C.O. Baluchistan Infantry) and the 10th Battalion (late 2/124th Baluchistan Infantry), the 10th Baluchistan Regiment. By O. A. Chaldecott. 8/3/4>” × 5?”. Pp. xiv+250. Eleven maps, two portraits. (Lieut.‐Col. J. N. Soden, Baluchistan Regiment, Karachi.)

Diamonds and Dust; India through French Eyes. By Baron Jean Pellenc. 9” × 6”. Pp. 306. Illustrations and map. London: Murray. 1936. 10s. 6d.

The Tiger Hunters. By Brigadier‐General R. G. Burton. 8¾> × 5¾>. Pp. xvi+225+xxxii. 16 illustrations. Hutchinson. 12s. 6d.

Honoria Lawrence : A Fragment of Indian History. By Maud Diver. Pp. 524. John Murray. 16s.

Scott of the Shan Hills: Orders and Impressions. Edited by G. E. Mitton (Lady Scott). 9 × 6. Pp. 333. Illustrations and maps. London: John Murray. 15s.

Return to Malaya. By R. H. Bruce Lockhart. Pp. i+426. Putnam. 10s. 6d.

Far East in Ferment. By Guenther Stein. Methuen. 10s. 6d.

Key Economic Areas in Chinese History. By Ch'ao‐ting Chi, Ph.D. George Allen and Unwin, Ltd.

China's Red Army Marches. By Agnes Smedley. 8? × 5/1/2>? Pp. xxii+311. London: Lawrence and Wishart, Ltd. 5s.

"Living China”: Modern Chinese Short Stories. Compiled and edited by Edgar Snow. With an Introduction by the Editor and an Essay on Modern Chinese Literature by Nym Wales. 8? × 5”. Pp. 355. Frontispiece. London: Harrap. 1936. 8s.

River of Golden Sand. By Thomas Woodroofe. 8/3/4>” × 5/1/2>”. Pp.325. Faber and Faber, Ltd. 8s. 6d. net.

Manchoukuo: Jewel of Asia. By D. M. B. Collier and Lieut.‐Colonel C. L. E. Malone. 8/3/4> × 5/3/4>”. Pp. iv+267. Sixteen photographs. Allen and Unwin, Ltd. 12s. 6d. net.

When Japan Goes to War. By O. Tanin and E. Yohan. 8/1/4>” × 5/1/2>”. Pp. 271. London: Lawrence and Wishart. 1936. 5s.

Japan : Recollections and Impressions. By Grace James. Pp. 285. Illustrated. George Allen and Unwin, Ltd. 1936.

Militarism and Foreign Policy in Japan. By E. E. N. Causton. George Allen and Unwin, Ltd. 7s. 6d.

Stalking in the Himalayas and Northern India. By Lieut.‐Colonel C. E. Stockley, D.S.O. Pp. 250. Illustrated. Herbert Jenkins. 15s.