Why the Karen Do Not Grow Opium: Competition and Contradiction in the Highlands of North Thailand
Author(s):
Hinton, Peter
Format:
Journal article
Citation:
Ethnology, Volume 22, Issue 1 (1983-01). pp. 16-Jan.
Language:
English
Abstract:
Why the Karen do not grow opium, the most profitable crop available to smallholders in the highlands of northern Thailand, is examined. Several conventional explanations are discounted, suggesting that Karen emphasis on the autonomy of the small nuclear family is an impediment to the labor concentration required for poppy cultivation. It is argued that such concentration has increased, but too slowly for the good of the Karen, who are exploited for their land & labor by the better adapted Hmong & Yao. Case studies illustrate the way in which the large extended family production units of these two groups facilitated their poppy production & placed them at a competitive advantage over the Karen. 1 Table, 17 References. Modified AA.