Drawing upon notions of indigenization of modernity, agency and
resistance in the context of an egalitarian society the Hmong in
northern Vietnam I explore whether agency that is directed at diverting
modernization is automatically intentional and patent, whether under
certain circumstances it becomes resistance, and whether it is necessarily a
project. I suggest the Hmong in Vietnam use infrapolitics while being
tactically selective about modernity. I note that agency and the power to
act appear and evolve in context and must be studied in relation to the
specific circumstances that have formed the acting subjects. My argument
relates to Sahlins’ proposition that ‘Local societies everywhere have
attempted to organise the irresistible forces of Western World system by
something even more inclusive their own system of the world, their own
culture.’