Women, Weaving, and Well-Being: The
Social Reproduction of Health in Laos
Kristin V. Lundberg
University of Kansas, USA
Health is more than a biological phenomenon and demographic indicators. It
exists in synergistic processes between biological actions and social
constructs. To a large degree, health occurs because of the interactions of
people and their commitment to relationships, institutions, and productive
means, resources affected by historical, ideological, political, social, and
economic forces. The interconnectedness of social determinants and biology
coalesce in the concept of a social reproduction of health where the focus is on
how health is created, maintained, and reproduced. Women weavers and their
families in Laos provided a microcosm by which to study the social reproduction
of health because of particular conventional cultural practices connected to the
making of textiles within a country striving to prosper and overcome
least-developed status.
Keywords: social reproduction, health, social determinants of health, weaving,
Laos.