ABSTRACT
This chapter summarizes important aspects of the colonial transformation, and presents Baan-muang structure. The colonial rule was legitimized on the basis of racism and, increasingly, modernization theory. Couple of Lao-speaking principalities came under French rule in the late nineteenth century was, under the given historical circumstances, partly inevitable and partly an accident. The changes introduced by the French under their colonial rule might seem insignificant, but they do amount to a social transformation. First, the population was integrated into the world economy dominated by Europe. Second, the French introduced a Western administration. Third, the borders of the nation-state were drawn and elements of nationalism were introduced into politics, culture and society. Fourth, colonial rule was legitimized on the basis of racism and, increasingly, modernization theory. The French classified the population of Laos according to ethnicized and racialized criteria. The classification determined the respective position in colonial society and increasingly influenced the interaction between the ethnolinguistic groups.
