LAOS AND RELIGIOUS FREEDOM STUDIES

Laos is an under-researched state, and religious freedom is an especially under-researched topic. Future research should examine: the extent to which experiences with the free market (especially as it relates to foreign investment), diverse sources of information, foreign educational opportunities, and religious pluralism are preparing the ground for the rule of law in Laos; the understanding of, and response to, religious freedom within the minority religious communities themselves; and the meaning and role of individualistic conceptions of human rights in general, and individual religious liberty in particular, for social environments that emphasize the family, community, and nation over the individual.