Rent Capitalism and Shifting Plantations in the Mekong Borderlands

Abstract

This chapter documents the impact of Chinese capitalism on the Mekong region’s agricultural sector in Laos based on a survey of the Chinese-owned banana plantations near the Laotian border town of Houy Xai. It will demonstrate how the high demand for bananas in China and unregulated rent capitalism have made it possible for small and medium Chinese banana plantations operating in the ThaiLao border areas to compete successfully with larger companies. However, the small-scale and short-term land acquisitions and the practice of shifting plantation by the Chinese companies have resulted in large-scale, long-term environmental and health impacts on local lives and livelihoods.