Countless millions of people in the world have little formally recognizable means for receiving any form of social justice. Laos, a small landlocked country in Southeast Asia, is a place that has seen some of the most brutal forms of poverty and violence. Over centuries, ethnic groups have been polarized and used by foreign powers to support their own agendas. In spite of this, the Lao people have consistently managed to recreate the peace and harmony that support their social relationships. Through the development and use of appropriate grassroots conflict resolution structures that do not require a formal court system, and exist outside the political arena, they have been able to resolve conflicts within and across cultural groups. Using in-depth interviews with different ethnic groups in Laos, this research examines traditional conflict resolution processes used in their communities. It identifies and discusses a Lao Conflict Resolution Spectrum, bringing particular attention to the Village Mediation Committee (Neoy Gai Geer). Laos' unique and most recognized conflict resolution ceremonies and rituals,the baci ceremony (soukhouan) and the reconciliation ceremony (soumma), are examined as tools for peacebuilding. These conflict resolution practices are significant in addressing conflict, repairing harm, rebuilding relationships, and restoring harmony to communities in conflict. The systems incorporate principles of effective conflict resolution, including transparency, accountability, inclusivity, flexibility, familiarity, accessibility, support networks, and relationship building. This research discovers how the conflict resolution systems of Laos are embedded in the fabric of grassroots life, and operate independently of the hierarchical structures that dominate governing institutions. It presents a case study of how people from a violent and impoverished past still manage to find ways to address their need for social justice and interconnectedness. The results provide greater understanding and appreciation of the contributions from diverse groups of people who are working daily to establish positive relationships, constructive and appropriate conflict resolution systems, and overall peace in their world. It demonstrates where peace can be found in difficult situations, among people who care little for political agenda and care a great deal about existing harmoniously with the people in their communities in order to mutually raise their quality of life.

Countless millions of people in the world have little formally recognizable means for receiving any form of social justice. Laos, a small landlocked country in Southeast Asia, is a place that has seen some of the most brutal forms of poverty and violence. Over centuries, ethnic groups have been polarized and used by foreign powers to support their own agendas. In spite of this, the Lao people have consistently managed to recreate the peace and harmony that support their social relationships. Through the development and use of appropriate grassroots conflict resolution structures that do not require a formal court system, and exist outside the political arena, they have been able to resolve conflicts within and across cultural groups. Using in-depth interviews with different ethnic groups in Laos, this research examines traditional conflict resolution processes used in their communities. It identifies and discusses a Lao Conflict Resolution Spectrum, bringing particular attention to the Village Mediation Committee (Neoy Gai Geer). Laos' unique and most recognized conflict resolution ceremonies and rituals,the baci ceremony (soukhouan) and the reconciliation ceremony (soumma), are examined as tools for peacebuilding. These conflict resolution practices are significant in addressing conflict, repairing harm, rebuilding relationships, and restoring harmony to communities in conflict. The systems incorporate principles of effective conflict resolution, including transparency, accountability, inclusivity, flexibility, familiarity, accessibility, support networks, and relationship building. This research discovers how the conflict resolution systems of Laos are embedded in the fabric of grassroots life, and operate independently of the hierarchical structures that dominate governing institutions. It presents a case study of how people from a violent and impoverished past still manage to find ways to address their need for social justice and interconnectedness. The results provide greater understanding and appreciation of the contributions from diverse groups of people who are working daily to establish positive relationships, constructive and appropriate conflict resolution systems, and overall peace in their world. It demonstrates where peace can be found in difficult situations, among people who care little for political agenda and care a great deal about existing harmoniously with the people in their communities in order to mutually raise their quality of life.

Faire du Foncier un fait économique total, et du capital le moteur du développement, c’est donner un blanc-seing à la marchandisation de la terre. Faut-il vraiment que le Mali cède ses terres agricoles et ses ressources foncières pour accéder au développement? Pour quel développement ? Le développement exige-t-il le sacrifice de l’agriculture familiale paysanne et des méthodes traditionnelles séculaires de gestion du foncier ? Depuis son accession à la souveraineté nationale en 1960, le Mali, pays pauvre de l’Afrique au Sud du Sahara cherche à atteindre mais en vain un essor économique, social et industriel et cela par tous les moyens, à l’exception de la mise en place d’un modèle endogène de développement. Dans cette quête, il a dû souscrire au modèle de développement dominant qui n’est autre que celui capitaliste, fragilisé depuis toujours et présentement par les conséquences de ses limites à savoir la succession des crises alimentaire, sociale environnementale financière. Si ce revers du capitalisme a eu des effets sociaux importants dans les pays du sud, il a également conduit certains pays émergents et auteurs de capitaux à s’accaparer des ressources naturelles des pays les plus pauvres. Pris en tenaille entre la préservation de ses spécificités socio-écologiques sur le plan foncier et son envie d’atteindre le développement durable, le Mali voit dans la marchandisation des ressources foncières à grande échelle une véritable aubaine. Ainsi, il va adapter son cadre juridico-politique d’accès aux ressources foncières (au risque de décalage, d’incohérence et de flou entre ses stratégies politiques et la réalité foncière) afin d’attirer de nouveaux acteurs. Il prend par la même occasion le risque d’exposer son peuple aux conséquences prévisibles (la spoliation des droits fonciers coutumiers, l’accroissement de la pauvreté rurale et des inégalités, la destruction de l’agriculture familiale…) de ce passage sans transition à une économie mondialisée alors que les enjeux fonciers bien maîtrisés se révèlent être une véritable stratégie de gestion équilibrée de tout développement et surtout du développement durable. / Making the land issue a total economic phenomenon and capital the driving force of development equates to giving free rein to the commodification of the land. Is it really necessary for Mali to sell off its agricultural land and its land resources to access development? For what development? Does development demand that family-run small farming operations and age-old, traditional land management methods be sacrificed? Ever since the country attained national sovereignty in 1960, Mali ‒ a poor country in sub-Saharan Africa ‒ has been seeking in vain to achieve rapid economic, social and industrial development by all the means available, with the exception of the deployment of an endogenous development model. In that quest, Mali has had to subscribe to the dominant development model which is none other than the capitalist model, made vulnerable as it always has been and still is at present by the consequences of its limitations, namely the succession of food, social, environmental and financial crises. If the downside of capitalism has had far-reaching social effects in the southern countries, it has also led certain emerging countries and providers of capital to grab the natural resources of the poorest countries. Caught between preserving its socioeconomic specificities in land terms and its desire to achieve sustainable development, Mali regards the large-scale commodification of its land resources as a real windfall. It is thus going to adapt its legal and political system of access to land resources ‒ at the risk of seeing a blurring of vision, discrepancy and inconsistency between its political strategies and the reality of the land issue ‒ in order to attract new stakeholders. In so doing, Mali runs the risk of exposing its people to the foreseeable consequences of the changeover without transition to a globalized economy, including notably the despoliation of customary law land rights, increased rural poverty and inequality, and the destruction of family-run farming operations, whereas proper control of the land issue is shown to be a true strategy for the balanced management of any development and above all of sustainable development.