Olivier Tappe

Oliver Tappe is Senior Researcher at the University of Heidelberg, Institute of Anthropology. His current research project (funded by the German Research Foundation) addresses historical and anthropological questions of tin mining in Laos. He is particularly interested in local practices of artisanal and small-scale mining, including related sociocosmological relations and ritual. In his research, ethnographic field work and archival studies complement each other.Oliver Tappe’s research interests include the historical anthropology of Laos, with a focus on labour relations, migration and mobility, and sociocultural change. His recent publications include a special issue on upland societies in Southeast Asia (co-edited 2021 with Rosalie Stolz for the journal Social Anthropology/Anthropologie Sociale), and the volume Extracting Development: Contested Resource Frontiers in Southeast Asia, co-edited with Simon Rowedder and published in 2022 by ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute (Singapore).