Tables and Figures, Series Editor Preface, Acknowledgments, Introduction: Women, Livelihood, and Social Change, THE PERSISTENT QUESTIONS, How WE KNOW WHAT WE KNOW: FIELDWORK IN LAOS, THE REST OF THE BOOK, Laos: Historical Contexts, LAOS: RECENT HISTORY AND NATIONAL CONTEXT, PATTERNED GENDER INEQUALITIES AND LAO WOMEN, GENDER, SOCIALISM, AND SOCIAL CHANGE, EQUALITY AND NATIONAL POLICIES, 1975-1995, CONCLUSION, Laos: Village Contexts, THE RURAL HOUSEHOLD AND HOUSEHOLD ECONOMY, VILLAGE UNITY, VILLAGE LIFE DURING THE WAR YEARS, VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT, CONCLUSION, Family, Home, Children, and Change, FAMILY AND KIN RELATIONS, GIVING BIRTH AND RAISING CHILDREN, SOCIALISM AND EARLY ECONOMIC LIBERALIZATION: EFFECTS ON FAMILY LIFE, CONCLUSION, Making a Living from the Land: Economics, Gender, and Power, THE AGRICULTURAL CYCLE: CELEBRATION AND CULTIVATION, CHANGING AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITIES: SOCIALIST REORGANIZATION (1975-1988), CHANGING AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITIES: EARLY ECONOMIC LIBERALIZATION (1988-1995), CONCLUSION, Making a Living in Commerce: Textiles, TEXTILE PRODUCTION, TEXTILE BUSINESSES, CONCLUSION, Gender, Ethnicity, and Development in Luang Prabang THREE STORIES:THE WOMEN AND THEIR VILLAGES, THE LUANG PRABANG WOMEN'S DEVELOPMENT PROJECT, CONCLUSION, Women and Social Change Among the Lao, HISTORICAL FACTORS, SOCIAL CHANGE, GLOBAL-LOCAL LINKAGES, SENSE OF AGENCY, Glossary, References, Index