ABSTRACT
This chapter argues for interdisciplinary approaches to ethnicity in Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos while grappling with and recognizing the pervasive challenge of defining, institutionalizing, and valuing ethnicity beyond its cultural representations. The first section provides a brief background on the concept of ethnicity in Southeast Asia, as well as literature on existing ethnic groups across and within the former Indochina: Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. The second section highlights two key themes as they intersect with ethnicity in these states, namely conflict and development. The chapter concludes with raising existing challenges and questions to move the narrative forward. This work does not seek to provide a comprehensive review of the ethnicities of the former Indochina, rather, it hopes to underline the urgent challenge of capturing representative, disaggregated demographic data in this region, and the challenges this
