Holly High

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Holly High
Born1976 (age 49–50)
near Nimbin, New South Wales, Australia
AwardsARC Discovery Early Career Research Award (2012)
ARC Future Fellowship (2020)
Academic background
EducationAll Saints' College, Bathurst
Alma materAustralian National University
Thesis (2005)
Academic work
DisciplineAnthropology
Sub-discipline
Ethnography of socialism in Laos; gender; reproductive health; policy
InstitutionsDeakin University (2021–present)
Yale University Program in Agrarian Studies (2005–2006)
Clare Hall, Cambridge (from 2010)
Notable works
Fields of Desire: Poverty and Policy in Laos (2015)
Projectland: Life in a Lao Socialist Model Village (2021)
As If Already Free (2026)
Stone Masters: Power Encounters in Mainland Southeast Asia (2022)

Holly High (born 1976) is an Australian anthropologist specialising in the ethnography of socialist Laos. She is an associate professor at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation.[1]

Biography

High was born in 1976 near Nimbin, New South Wales.[2]

High conducted fieldwork in Laos, including language learning and documenting a bird flu outbreak. She was a research fellow at the Yale Program in Agrarian Studies (2005–2006)[3] and at Clare Hall, Cambridge from 2010, later becoming a Life Member.[4] She was awarded an Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Early Career Research Award in 2012 and an ARC Future Fellowship in 2020.[5][6] In 2021 she joined Deakin University.[7]

Research

High's research focuses on the ethnography of socialism in the Lao People's Democratic Republic,[8] with particular attention to gender, reproductive health, and policy. Reviewer Ian G. Baird of the University of Wisconsin–Madison has argued that High was the first scholar to seriously challenge the characterisation of Laos as postsocialist.[9] She is also a public advocate for the discipline of anthropology, appearing regularly on podcasts and in interviews to discuss Lao politics and society. One reviewer described her prose as having notable literary quality.[10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]

Notable works

References

  1. "Meet Associate Professor Holly High: Rethinking Birth and Parenting in Socialist Laos". Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation. 2025-07-30. Retrieved 2026-06-16.
  2. "Graeme Dunstan, September 2010". www.peacebus.com. Retrieved 2026-06-16.
  3. "Resident Program Fellows, 2005-2006". macmillan.yale.edu. Retrieved 2026-06-16.
  4. "Clare Hall Cambridge - Review" (PDF). Retrieved June 16, 2026.
  5. "Grant - Grants Data Portal".
  6. "Holly High ARC Future Fellowship 2020 success". The University of Sydney. Retrieved 2026-06-16.
  7. "Holly High". experts.deakin.edu.au. Retrieved 2026-06-16.
  8. "Holly High, 2021, Projectland: Life in a Lao Socialist Model Village, Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 265 pp., ISBN 978-0-82488-874-9 – Anthropology Book Forum". Anthropology Book Forum. Retrieved June 16, 2026.
  9. Baird, Ian G. (2022-10-02). "Projectland: Life in a Lao Socialist Model Village: by Holly High, Honolulu, University of Hawai´i Press, 2021, + 238 pp., $68.00 (hardback), ISBN-13: 9780824886653". Asian Ethnicity. 23 (4): 828–831. doi:10.1080/14631369.2021.1993786. ISSN 1463-1369.
  10. "Spotify – Web Player". Spotify. Retrieved June 16, 2026.
  11. Actually Existing Socialism (2025-10-20). Laos: Revolutions in Reproduction w/ Holly High. Retrieved 2026-06-16 – via YouTube.
  12. "Projectland: Life in a Lao Socialist Model Village with Associate Professor Holly High". New Books Network. Retrieved 2026-06-16.
  13. "Spotify – Web Player". Spotify. Retrieved June 16, 2026.
  14. "Journal of Contemporary Asia". Taylor & Francis. Retrieved 2026-06-16.
  15. Lee, Brought to you byABC South West VictoriaPresented byJeremy (2024-02-14). "Breakfast". ABC listen. Retrieved 2026-06-16.
  16. "Holly High". Sophie Chao. Retrieved 2026-06-16.
  17. Padilla, Mar (2026-05-26). "Como si fuéramos libres: el legado pirata y anarquista de David Graeber". El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 2026-06-16.
  18. "Spotify – Web Player". Spotify. Retrieved 2026-06-16.
  19. Politics, Holly HighSeries: New Southeast Asia; Meaning; Memory (2021-10-05). "Projectland: Life in a Lao Socialist Model Village". UH Press. Retrieved 2026-06-16.