ABSTRACT
A look at the Lao music scene provides an interesting case study, not only of the cultural phenomena of glocalization (Robertson 1992), creolization (Hannerz 1987) and hybridization (Nederveen Pieterse 2004a), but of the relationship between fields and the division of work. In human life, music has traditionally been regarded as work rather than labour; it is a mode of expression and a source of joy and other emotions. As soon as the first musical instruments came into use, a certain division of musical work must have emerged, as not everyone played all instruments equally well and willingly. However, musical activity has always been clearly distinguished from labour-defined as work undertaken by the need for survival (see Chapter 1). This has changed dramatically in the recent past with music becoming a product for sale. The transformation is currently taking place in Laos, where we can witness at once the emergence of a music scene and its usurpation by the economic field.
