Her research focuses on understanding how people who live ‘on the margins’, whether this be economically, politically, and/or culturally make a livelihood in Asia. This includes research on ethnic minority livelihoods in northern Vietnam and southwest China, as well as on street vendor survival tactics in Southeast Asian cities. She has recently co-edited the book: ‘Agrarian Angst and Rural Resistance in Contemporary Southeast Asia’ published by Routledge 2009.