From the late 1950s in the north, to the 1970s until the mid- 1980s in the south, there was little room or opportunity to form non-state voluntary organizations and associations in Vietnam. With few exceptions, only those established by the Communist Party and other state agencies were permitted. The picture has changed considerably since doi moi. From proactive self-help associations for the disabled to mass, semi-state or non-governmental organizations, the Vietnamese people are getting together to voice their collective and specific interests vis a vis the state. The process of getting together, voicing ideas, acting in concert, and attempting to influence policy in some cases is ongoing and in constant flux. This book presents original case studies of the gamut of organizations in Vietnam today and analyses their relationships with umbrella state organizations which are themselves evolving. Getting Organized in Vietnam also constitutes an enquiry into the term civil society itself. The contributors examine current thinking about the nature of the state in Vietnam in particular. Included here are the first attempts to provide a framework for assessing and categorizing the bewild

From the late 1950s in the north, to the 1970s until the mid-1980s in the south, there was little room or opportunity to form non-state voluntary organizations and associations in Vietnam. With few exceptions, only those established by the Communist Party and other state agencies were permitted.The picture has changed considerably since doi moi. From proactive self-help associations for the disabled to mass, semi-state or "e;non-governmental"e; organizations, the Vietnamese people are getting together to voice their collective and specific interests vis a vis the state. The process of getting together, voicing ideas, acting in concert, and attempting to influence policy in some cases is ongoing and in constant flux. This book presents original case studies of the gamut of organizations in Vietnam today and analyses their relationships with umbrella state organizations which are themselves evolving.Getting Organized in Vietnam also constitutes an enquiry into the term "e;civil society"e; itself. The contributors examine current thinking about the nature of the state in Vietnam in particular. Included here are the first attempts to provide a framework for assessing and categorizing the bewildering array of small organizations in Vietnam: which ones are weakly connected to the state, which ones are independent of the state but perhaps dependent on outside funding agencies.This book is a must for scholars, policymakers, journalists and others interested in understanding political and social change in Vietnam and other transitional economies.

Vietnam: Rethinking the State offers an exciting and up-to-date look at the politics of this fascinating country as it seeks to make the transition from war-torn economic backwater to a dynamic and modern society. The book argues for a move away from the commonly associated idea of 'reform', arguing for a deeper understanding of the concept and questioning the idea of state-retreat. The result is a path-breaking book which gets beneath the surface of Vietnam's politics in a way which few outsiders otherwise could.

This is a study of Vietnam's socialist transition and state transformation, generally known as đổi mới. It examines the drivers of socialist-regime change, the nature of the đổi mới state, and the basis of regime legitimacy in Vietnam. The Element argues that despite its 'one-party rule' label, the party-state apparatus that channels said rule has become fragmented. State-building during the đổi mới period involved negotiations and bargaining that redefine authority and power relations within the state apparatus. The party-state's accountability projects are designed to target the specific self-aggrandizing tendencies of the state apparatus, its policies, and abuse of state power. At the leadership level, patterns of resource allocation underlying the đổi mới growth model as well as the VCP's cadre rotation approach have accommodated central and sub-national state elites across sectors and levels, helping shore up the legitimacy of the đổi mới state in the eyes of the state elite. The combination of sustained economic growth, expansion of political space, accountability, and tolerance of small-scale public protests have been factors in strengthening regime-society legitimization.

This book is the first ethnography on Vietnam’s contemporary dissident movement. As a country that became known and is still remembered as one of the last remnants of Communist revolutions, Vietnam has managed to lift itself from one of the poorest war-torn post-colonies to one of the fastest growing market economies in Southeast Asia. Yet, while holding on to the legacy of a communist-led liberation movement, the present-day Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) finds itself subject to political challenges from below. In recent years, dissident voices critical of the party-state's malgovernance over social, economic and environmental issues have mushroomed across classes, generations and provinces. Based on extensive ethnographic data, this book explores distinct political practices and political ideas of Vietnam's dissidents. It examines different anti-capitalist and anti-authoritarian practices of democracy, labour, peasant and religious activists and reveals that anti-capitalist and anti-authoritarian practices are—at times—motivated by nationalist, anti-communist and statist ideas and ideologies. Understanding this dissonance between political practices and political ideas within the context of global capitalism and coloniality lies at the heart of this book.

This book presents a critical review of the Vietnamese reform process and analyses the most crucial issues in the post-Asian crisis debate arguing that a wider debate is needed in order for national policy-makers to make well-informed decisions.

This book explores how capital-labour relations and antagonisms structure forms of militancy in Vietnam and shows that Vietnamese labour militancy is in line with global trends of worker activism. Vietnamese labour politics is undergoing significant changes, with a new Labour code that became law in 2021 allowing workers to join ‘worker representative organisations’ not subordinate to the state-led union or the ruling Communist Party. This book reflects on the nature of Vietnamese labour politics on the cusp of reform. It focuses on nominally formal labour within the garment and footwear industry in the southern part of the country, the author argues that while employment in the formal economy is expanding in terms of the absolute numbers of people working in formally registered firms, capital employs various ways to make conditions inside these companies increasingly insecure. In response, workers organise in forms of decentralised resistance. The book analyses two of these in detail; wildcat strikes and ‘microstrikes’—short collective work stoppages that occur inside workplaces. Arguing that labour resistance is structured in relation to capital’s behaviour, and not only because of weak labour relations institutions and mechanisms, this book makes a valuable contribution to the field of labour and social movement studies, development studies, sociology, and political economy and Southeast Asian Studies.

Weaving Women’s Spheres in Vietnam offers an in-depth study of the status of women in Vietnamese society through an examination of their roles in the context of family, religious and local community life from anthropological, historical and sociological perspectives. Unlike previous works on gender issues relating to Vietnam which focus on women as passive subjects and are restricted to specific spheres such as family, this book, through a series of case studies and life stories, not only examines the suppressive gender structure of the Vietnamese family, but also demonstrates Vietnamese women's agency in appropriating that structure and creating alternative spheres for women which they have interwoven in between the dominant realms of public and private spheres in the areas of family, religious practice, community organizations, and politics, including their participation in the (re)construction of national identity. Accordingly, this volume is expected to become an important new benchmark relating to gender issues in Asian societies, especially in the context of so-called ‘transitional’ societies, such as China and Vietnam. Contributors include: Kirsten W. Endres, Ito Mariko, Ito Miho, Kato Atsufumi , Hy V. Luong, Miyazawa Chihiro, Thien-Huong T. Ninh, Tran Thi Minh Thi.

Within the last twenty years a large-scale bottom-up privatization has taken place in Vietnam, changing and dismantling the public health care system. This process has led to severe tensions inherent in the transitional society of Vietnam between equity and access to health care support - especially for the poor, elderly, migrants, and ethnic minorities - on the one hand, and its efficiency on the other hand. The book traces the reform efforts to modernize the health care system by the Communist Party of Vietnam and the Vietnamese government. The author bases her findings on little known primary literature and interviews with key stakeholders of the policy network involved in the reform of the health care system, thereby painting an authentic atmospheric picture of the profound changes in the health care system in Vietnam.

Vietnam’s decision making process is often described as either consensus-based or simply confusing and inexplicable. This book provides an approach to understanding political decision making in Vietnam by recognizing enduring values that are derived from State-controlled education and official historical narratives.