Siwei Zoe Tan | Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn (original) (raw)

Papers by Siwei Zoe Tan

The role of ideas in the policy‐making process has been taken up by institutional analysts who fo... more The role of ideas in the policy‐making process has been taken up by institutional analysts who found the structured approaches of institutionalism wanting in predicting political changes. But this
ideational turn has been plagued by definitional ambiguity with repercussions for the research methods: specifying and elaborating the core concept of "idea" is often skipped over, in favour of synonymical terms, without exploring the relationship between the concepts. Likewise, what policymaking entails and which aspect or element of it is under study is also often unspecified. Instead, the focus is on ideational power and the causal mechanisms, but the ontological side‐steps raise
interesting questions about operationalisability. This paper seeks to apply the ideational perspective to a socialist centralised planning context, specifically the Vietnamese socio‐economic development plans and planning apparatus. The phrase “industrialisation and modernisation by 2020” can be seen
in many Vietnamese circles: whether it be the communist party, policy‐makers, consultants, scholars, or government officials, the phrase is used mostly as an opener, a suffix, and appearing as value-neutral. This paper suggests that “industrialisation and modernisation by 2020” is more than a slogan, and as an idea, exercises influence over socio‐economic development policy‐making through the institutional set‐up of Vietnamese development planning that reproduces and propagates the
mantra of industrialisation. This prioritisation of the economic and industrial is further reinforced by the fluidity of the boundary between policy and law in Vietnam, to the detriment of other aspects of socio‐economic development that are not related to “industrialisation and modernisation”. This analysis of Vietnamese socio‐economic development planning demonstrates the essentially inductive process through which "ideas" are identified, defined and attributed, and raises questions about operationalising analyses of ideational power.

Books by Siwei Zoe Tan

Industrial zones were only introduced to Vietnam in the 1990s, but even the agrarian Mekong Delta... more Industrial zones were only introduced to Vietnam in the 1990s, but even the agrarian Mekong Delta boasts of about 100 zones. What is their environmental impact? While missing capacity, financing, and regulation is the common diagnosis, this book reintroduces the structural features of the Vietnamese state and its economy into its analysis of wastewater management in the industrial zones. It reveals the socio-spatial effects of the Vietnamese state administration system and the State's utilisation of law and its ambiguities to express and facilitate multiple dimensions of socio-spatiality.

The role of ideas in the policy‐making process has been taken up by institutional analysts who fo... more The role of ideas in the policy‐making process has been taken up by institutional analysts who found the structured approaches of institutionalism wanting in predicting political changes. But this
ideational turn has been plagued by definitional ambiguity with repercussions for the research methods: specifying and elaborating the core concept of "idea" is often skipped over, in favour of synonymical terms, without exploring the relationship between the concepts. Likewise, what policymaking entails and which aspect or element of it is under study is also often unspecified. Instead, the focus is on ideational power and the causal mechanisms, but the ontological side‐steps raise
interesting questions about operationalisability. This paper seeks to apply the ideational perspective to a socialist centralised planning context, specifically the Vietnamese socio‐economic development plans and planning apparatus. The phrase “industrialisation and modernisation by 2020” can be seen
in many Vietnamese circles: whether it be the communist party, policy‐makers, consultants, scholars, or government officials, the phrase is used mostly as an opener, a suffix, and appearing as value-neutral. This paper suggests that “industrialisation and modernisation by 2020” is more than a slogan, and as an idea, exercises influence over socio‐economic development policy‐making through the institutional set‐up of Vietnamese development planning that reproduces and propagates the
mantra of industrialisation. This prioritisation of the economic and industrial is further reinforced by the fluidity of the boundary between policy and law in Vietnam, to the detriment of other aspects of socio‐economic development that are not related to “industrialisation and modernisation”. This analysis of Vietnamese socio‐economic development planning demonstrates the essentially inductive process through which "ideas" are identified, defined and attributed, and raises questions about operationalising analyses of ideational power.

Industrial zones were only introduced to Vietnam in the 1990s, but even the agrarian Mekong Delta... more Industrial zones were only introduced to Vietnam in the 1990s, but even the agrarian Mekong Delta boasts of about 100 zones. What is their environmental impact? While missing capacity, financing, and regulation is the common diagnosis, this book reintroduces the structural features of the Vietnamese state and its economy into its analysis of wastewater management in the industrial zones. It reveals the socio-spatial effects of the Vietnamese state administration system and the State's utilisation of law and its ambiguities to express and facilitate multiple dimensions of socio-spatiality.