The Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Vietnam is a comprehensive resource exploring social, political, economic, and cultural aspects of Vietnam, one of contemporary Asia’s most dynamic but least understood countries. Following an introduction that highlights major changes that have unfolded in Vietnam over the past three decades, the volume is organized into four thematic parts:
- Politics and Society
- Economy and Society
- Social Life and Institutions
- Cultures in Motion
Part I addresses key aspects of Vietnam’s politics, from the role of the Communist Party of Vietnam in shaping the country’s institutional evolution, to continuity and change in patterns of socio-political organization, political expression, state repression, diplomatic relations, and human rights. Part II assesses the transformation of Vietnam’s economy, addressing patterns of economic growth, investment and trade, the role of the state in the economy, and other economic aspects of social life. Parts III and IV examine developments across a variety of social and cultural fields through chapters on themes including welfare, inequality, social policy, urbanization, the environment and society, gender, ethnicity, the family, cuisine, art, mass media, and the politics of remembrance.
Featuring 38 essays by leading Vietnam scholars from around the world, this book provides a cutting-edge analysis of Vietnam’s transformation and changing engagement with the world. It is an invaluable interdisciplinary reference work that will be of interest to students and academics of Southeast Asian studies, as well as policymakers, analysts, and anyone wishing to learn more about contemporary Vietnam.
1 How to Study Contemporary Vietnam?
Jonathan D. London
Part I: Politics and Society
2 The Communist Party of Vietnam: Consolidating Market-Leninism
Jonathan D. London
3 Political Representation in Contemporary Vietnam
Paul Schuler
4 Public Political Criticism in Vietnam, 1990s–2018
Benedict J. Tria Kerkvliet
5 Civil Society and Advocacy Networks in Vietnam
Andrew Wells-Dang
6 The Role of the Military and Public Security in Contemporary Vietnam
Carlyle A. Thayer
7 Human Rights in Contemporary Vietnam
Gisle Kvanvig
8 Vietnam’s Foreign Policy: Structure, Evolution, and Contemporary Challenges
Le Hong Hiep
Part II: Economy and Society
9 Vietnam’s Extraordinary Economic Journey from Poverty to Prosperity
Martin Rama
10 Vietnam’s Foreign Direct Investment and Export Performance
Prema-chandra Athukorala and Trung Kien Nguyen
11 Contemporary Vietnam: State Effectiveness Under Conditions of Commercialization
Jonathan Pincus
12 The Political Economy of Private-Sector Development in Vietnam Since Doi Moi
Tu-Anh Vu-Thanh
13 Decentralization and Economic Development in Vietnam
Edmund Malesky
14 Contradictions of Multistakeholder Labor Relations in Vietnam
Angie Ngọc Trần
15 Land in Contemporary Vietnam
Nguyễn Văn Sửu
16 Market Personhood in Urban Southern Vietnam
Ann Marie Leshkowich
17 Contemporary Vietnam’s Economy in Historical Perspective: Đổi Mới or Đổi Lại?
Gerard Sasges
Part III: Social Life and Institutions
18 Welfare, Inequality, and Opportunity in Contemporary Vietnam
Jonathan D. London and Jonathan Pincus
19 Education and Development in Vietnam: A Glass Half Full?
Diep Phan and Ian Coxhead
20 Contemporary Vietnam’s Health Status and Health System
Tran Khanh Toan
21 Post-Colonial Urbanization in Vietnam: Urban Order and Unruliness
Erik Harms and Danielle Labbé
22 Sociocultural Life and Social Relations in Rural Vietnam’s Lowlands
Hy Van Luong and Phan Văn Dốp
23 The Cosmopolitan Delta: Ethnic Pluralism at the Mouth of the Mekong
Philip Taylor
24 Ethnic Minorities in Vietnam: State Relations and Social Change
Pamela McElwee
25 Environment and Society in Contemporary Vietnam: Development, Crisis, and Responses
Nga Dao
26 The Family in Contemporary Viet Nam
Nguyen Huu Minh
27 Feminism in Vietnam: Women’s Studies, Gender Research, and Intersections
Hương Thu Nguyễn and Helle Rydstrom
28 Masculinity and Violence in Vietnam
Helle Rydstrom
29 Marriage, Family and Kinship in Vietnam: Shadows and Silences
Tine M. Gammeltoft
30 The Affairs of Men: Masculinity in Contemporary Vietnam
Linh Khanh Nguyen and Jack Dash Harris
31 LGBTQ in Vietnam: Heteronormativity and Resistance
Paul Horton and Helle Rydstrom
Part IV: Cultures in Motion
32 Contemporary Vietnamese Cuisine
Christopher M. Annear and Jack Dash Harris
33 Driving Doi Moi: Motorbikes, Cars, and Capitalism in Vietnam’s Socialist Market Economy
Arve Hansen
34 Religion in Contemporary Vietnam
Hoàng Văn Chung
35 Movements of Independent Art in Contemporary Vietnam
Bùi Kim Đĩnh
36 Revolutionary Journalism in Contemporary Vietnam
Nguyen-Pochan Thi Thanh Phuong
37 Popular Television: Socialist Politics and Market Competition
Giang Nguyen-Thu
38 Remembrance, Commemoration, and Revolutionary Apparitions: Ritualizing Connections with the Past and the Future in Vietnam
Oscar Salemink
Biography
Jonathan D. London is an associate professor of political economy at Leiden University, the Netherlands. His recent publications include Welfare and Inequality in Marketizing East Asia (2018), Politics in Contemporary Vietnam (2014), and Education in Vietnam (2011).
“This is an extremely valuable compilation of essays by more than forty scholars coming from three generations, elucidating important developments in Vietnam during the past three decades. I learned a great deal.”
David G. Marr, Australian National University, Australia
“An excellent guide to the politics and economy of Vietnam today, the handbook also illuminates a variety of social issues. It should be of interest to individuals engaged in scholarship, business, or tourism.”
Hue-Tam Ho Tai, Harvard University, USA
“This is an excellent volume comprehensive in its coverage of contemporary Vietnam, and attentive in its multiple approaches across disciplines and fields of knowledge. It’s a necessary handbook for interested students of Vietnam as well as those seeking any kind of engagement with the country.”
Thu-huong Nguyen-vo, University of California, Los Angeles , USA
“An essential resource for understanding the complex dynamics of social, political, economic, cultural, and ecological transformation in Vietnam. International contributors from across the social sciences provide a brilliant overview of Vietnam past and present, while raising important questions about the direction of future research.”
Christina Schwenkel, Journal of Vietnamese Studies
