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Since the increase in the natural rubber prices, the rubber sector has shown a new vigor for the past ten years. In the highlands of mainland Southeast Asia, this sector has been partly responsible for profound socio-economical transformations. The rubber sector provides an opportunity to understand how hierarchy reinforcement operates in these highlands, split between Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. Going back to the production industries in those three countries, we will see that there is nothing new about the ongoing power relationships in this region. In fact, from the introduction of rubber trees in colonial plantations to the current land concessions,the rubber tree crop has not only been arranged into productive areas and networks but has also become a national industry.