Description du sujet de thèse

The project aims to contribute to the understanding of the mechanisms and concrete social effects of Chinese expansion in Southeast Asian countries bordering China (Laos and Vietnam) by examining how local communities perceive, resist, negotiate, or even appropriate “global China.”
The doctoral research will therefore focus on the social and economic effects of the Chinese presence on local societies in the provinces of Laos bordering China. Through ethnographic research conducted in the border towns of the provinces of Oudomxay, Namtha, and Phongsaly, this doctoral research will address one of the following three themes: 1) historical Chinese networks in these border areas; 2) affective economies and the resulting models of conviviality; 3) Chinese impacts on local social differentiation and elite formation.

Contexte de travail

The host laboratory will be the Centre Asie du Sud-Est (UMR8170), a joint research unit of the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and INaLCO. Founded in 2006, it brings together interdisciplinary research on the eleven countries of Southeast Asia (Burma, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Timor-Leste, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam), as well as neighboring regions and states such as Papua New Guinea, Taiwan, and southern China. It is housed in the EHESS building, in the heart of the Condorcet Campus.
The host doctoral school will be the Doctoral School - ED 286 - of the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences. The thesis will specialize in social anthropology and ethnology. Address of the doctoral school: EHESS Doctoral School 54 Boulevard Raspail 75006 PARIS Tel.: +33 (0)1 49 54 23 08 Website: https://www.ehess.fr/fr/lecole-doctorale-lehess-ed-286

The doctoral research is part of the Franco-German ANR-DFG program Encounters and Entanglements: Localizing Global China in Laos and Vietnam (EE_LaoViet).
The team is made up of six French and German researchers affiliated with the Centre Asie du Sud-Est and the University of Cologne, two doctoral students, and will work closely with university partners and Master's students in Laos and Vietnam.
The doctoral student recruited will work closely with the members of the ANR-DFG and, in particular, with the ANR project manager, Vanina Bouté (EHESS), under whose supervision the thesis will be carried out.

Skills:
- Master's degree in social sciences
- Field research experience in Laos or Vietnam
- ability to communicate and write in English for promotional activities such as conferences or symposiums (working language of the research program)
- fluency in Lao or Vietnamese required; knowledge of Chinese would be an advantage.
- ability to work in a team and with a research coordinator

Contraintes et risques

Risks related to fieldwork in Asia.

Informations complémentaires

Section(s) CNRS : 39 (Sociologie), 41 (Anthropologie), 43 (Politique)

Applications must include the following documents:
• a CV
• a cover letter
• a research proposal focusing on the aspects that the candidate would like to develop during the contract period (max. 10 pages) plus a preliminary bibliography
• a copy of the Master's thesis
• a copy of the most recent diploma obtained and transcript