Vietnams Rural Transformation

Since the mid-1980s, Vietnam has experienced remarkable economic, political, and social change. This is the first study in English to focus on rural Vietnam — where nearly 80 per cent of its people live, much of its economic production occurs, and political upheavals earlier this century changed the course of history. Analyzing the impact of economic liberalization on the countryside, the contributors note that despite significant improvements in real income for most rural Vietnamese, poverty is still pronounced and socio-economic inequality appears to be growing. The poorest now appear to have less access to educational and health services. Environmental conditions also pose significant problems. Highlighting the dynamic political scene in Vietnam, the contributors also consider the interplay between national policymaking and local pressures and activity.

This work covers Vietnam's rural transformation.

Provides in-depth evaluation of the development of rural life in Viet Nam over the past decade, combining a unique primary source of time-series panel data with the best micro-econometric analytical tools available.

Since the mid-1980s, Vietnam has experienced remarkable economic, political, and social change. This is the first study in English to focus on rural Vietnam — where nearly 80 per cent of its people live, much of its economic production occurs, and political upheavals earlier this century changed the course of history. Analyzing the impact of economic liberalization on the countryside, the contributors note that despite significant improvements in real income for most rural Vietnamese, poverty is still pronounced and socio-economic inequality appears to be growing. The poorest now appear to have less access to educational and health services. Environmental conditions also pose significant problems. Highlighting the dynamic political scene in Vietnam, the contributors also consider the interplay between national policymaking and local pressures and activity.

This book is a case study of Vietnam's efforts to fight poverty using market-oriented land reforms. In the 1980s and 1990s, the country undertook major institutional reforms, and an impressive reduction in poverty followed. But what role did the reforms play? Did the efficiency gains from reform come at a cost to equity? Were there both winners and losers? Was rising rural landlessness in the wake of reforms a sign of success or failure? 'Land in Transition' investigates the impacts on living standards of the two stages of land law reform: in 1988, when land was allocated to households administratively and output markets were liberalized; and in 1993, when official land titles were introduced and land transactions were permitted for the first time since communist rule began. To fully assess the poverty impacts of these changes, the authors' analysis of household surveys is guided by both economic theory and knowledge of the historical and social contexts. The book delineates lessons from Vietnam's experience and their implications for current policy debates in China and elsewhere.

This book is one of the first ethnographies written on the life of farmers in rural Southern Vietnam since the economic reform in the 1980s. It investigates how social, economic and political factors affect the farmers’ life in the Mekong Delta in the late socialist era with a particularly focus on the family, which serves as the basic and most significant social unit for the farmers. Dealing with classical anthropological topics of kinship and family, the book examines them as dynamic institutions. With vivid illustrations of the village life, family farming, education of children, jobs outside of farming and everyday politics, it presents new and different pictures of the current Vietnamese family under rapid social changes. The book will contribute to the current ethnographical research in Vietnam and Southeast Asia and also be of particular interest to those working on society and culture in the geographical region from broader disciplines. It will also appeal to readers who are interested in such topics as late socialism, social transformation, and rural development.

This work provides in-depth evaluation of the development of rural life in Viet Nam over the past decade, combining a unique primary source of time-series panel data with the best micro-econometric analytical tools available

This book, first published in 1999, analyses the history and major economic features of the Vietnamese reform process. The attempt to establish a post-reunification centrally planned economic system, a collectivised agriculture and a capital-intensive and inward-oriented industrial sector had largely failed, provoking the development of a parallel economy which turned out to be the nucleus of an emerging private sector. The book focuses on the reform of enterprises and the financial sector and gives an overall picture of the reform efforts in the areas of rural development, the social sectors and environmental policy, and assesses the further changes and reforms needed in the country.

Vu tells the story of Vietnamese farmers who have survived a 30-year war of independence and unification, its damaging legacies in their living environment, and the unfamiliar pressure of the market economy. Vietnamese famers are neither simply obedient beneficiaries of policy decisions made by higher authorities nor convention-ridden cyphers. Rather, they are sophisticated decision-makers capable of navigating the changes threatening to disrupt their lives over multiple generations. Vu’s research pays particular attention to those farmers whose families have suffered from direct and indirect exposure to the toxic herbicides popularly known as Agent Orange. She demonstrates that their priority has tended to be the protection of their existing assets, rather than pursuing the promise of new riches, and that this tendency has helped them maintain stability in a turbulent economic environment. A fascinating study for scholars of Vietnamese anthropology and society, the book will also be of interest to sociologists and economists with a broader interest in the impact of economic and political change on rural lifestyles.