All about the current protest in Vietnam (2018) (original) (raw)
Related papers
The State in a Capitalist Society: Protests and State Reactions in Vietnam and Indonesia
Journal of Contemporary Asia, 2022
When, how, and why do states take what kind of action visa -vis protests? This article tackles these under-researched questions with respect to Vietnam and Indonesia. The theoretical frame applied focusses on the state-society nexus and in-built biases of the capitalist state and its actions. It draws on Poulantzas' idea of the state as a material condensation of the relationship of social forces as well as on Jessop's "strategic-relational approach" and his concept of the "state in a capitalist society." The method used is Protest Event Analysis, using data for 2016 and 2017 from four Indonesian and Vietnamese newspapers. This is complemented by data drawn from various newspapers on protests and state reactions for the period 2018-2020. The focussed theory frame used helps to explain similarities and differences of state reactions in Indonesia and Vietnam. Both states may govern protest in slightly different ways. Ultimately, however, both those states' reactions indicate strong similarities in that they serve to maintain existing patterns of political, economic, and socio-cultural domination and the accumulation of capital as the very basis of the capitalist economy. To put these tentative findings to the test, longer-term data and cross-regional comparisons on state reactions to protests should be used.
Dissident Labour Activism in Vietnam
Journal of Contemporary Asia, 2023
Scholars of Vietnam have studied different forms of labour resistance such as wildcat strikes, petitions, complaints, work stoppages, and boycotts, with which workers demand higher wages and pensions, overall better working conditions, and the implementation of workers' rights. This article pays attention to the small, yet not negligible group of dissident labour activists, who are subjected to much harsher state repression compared to labour resistance in and around the workplace. This article asks: What makes dissident labour activism a (real or perceived) threat to the state? A common and widely accepted explanation refers to the nature of the demands of dissidents, which includes independent trade unions, democratisation, and regime change. This article digs deeper and finds that dissident labour activists function as agents of an emerging epistemological third space, which permits the revitalisation of hidden knowledges about labour rights, the reclamation of the silenced idea of independent trade unions and the coexistence of critique of the status quo and imagination of an alternative future, which together threaten to endanger the Communist Party of Vietnam's political legitimacy and, by implication, capital utilisation.
Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 2016
Trâǹ's monograph Ties that bind: Cultural identity, class, and law in Vietnam's labour resistance is a theoretically grounded analysis of labour resistance in Vietnam from the French colonial period to the current era of accelerated globalisation. Data sources include publications on French-colonial-period labour unrest, newspapers in the past six decades, and 41 interviews, mainly in southern Vietnam, with workers, labour resistance organisers, reporters, and a few enterprise managers/owners and state and union officials. The examined forms of resistance range from public denunciation of labour exploitation and labour regulation/contract violations, to work stoppages and strikes. The resistance can be of the Polanyi-type, based on 'the need to protect social substances imperiled by the "self-regulating" market' (p. 8), and taking the form of a fight 'against labour commodification for human dignity, justice, and self-preservation' (ibid.). Or the resistance can be of the Marxist type, 'based on class, and on the fight against capitalist exploitation for better wages and other labour rights' (ibid). Or the resistance can combine both types. In Ties that bind capitalists and management are portrayed as highly exploitative. Trâǹ also suggests that the current Vietnamese state, despite its socialist rhetoric, has tried to control labour unrest in order to attract foreign direct investment (FDI), and that its executive and judicial branches in numerous cases have sided with foreign and domestic capital. For example, from 1999 to 2006, despite the cumulative inflation rate of 35 per cent, the Vietnamese state did not adjust the minimum wage in the foreign sector, thus allowing the exploitation of Vietnamese workers by foreign capitalists. The minimum wage was also considerably lower in the domestic sector than in the foreign sector, thus allowing the exploitation of workers by domestic capital. Enterprise-based union leaders tend not to support work stoppages or strikes because they act in accordance with state guidelines and because they receive their union salaries from enterprise management. Through its hộ khâủ (household registration) system, the current Vietnamese state erects institutional barriers against migrant workers who constitute a significant part of contemporary industrial labour in Vietnam. Trâǹ suggests that this has led to higher rent and utility rates for migrant workers, as well as
Protest and Political Incorporation: Vietnamese American Protests, 1975-2001
Center for the Study of Democracy, 2004
Protest, now ubiquitous in advanced industrialized societies, has become a useful window for examining all sorts of broader political phenomena. Using event data from newspaper reports, we trace protest by Vietnamese Americans over the past 26 years as a means to assess political incorporation. By looking at the issues, tactics, and development of protest within the Vietnamese American community, we get a sense of the development and incorporation of that community. We find that protest, particularly in the form of demonstrations, is a common form of making claims among Vietnamese-Americans, and that the issues expressed are primarily about foreign policy, directed toward the old homeland, rather than domestic political concerns. It is not clear whether mobilization on homeland issues provides a foundation for subsequent political mobilization on domestic issues, or whether it serves as a distraction from it.
Vietnam - Nationalism and Revolution ; Growth and Inequality
Vietnam! Even the country’s name invokes strong and varied emotional reactions from many people. For some, it represents a beloved and lost homeland. For others, it is a place where loved ones were lost in a war that some believed in and others did not. For still others, it is a land finally free from colonial powers and outside influences. Vietnam’s place was once center stage in the global Cold War. Its name and history still sharply divide people in the United States, as shown by the 2004 presidential election. How can this slender S-shaped silver of a country play such an important role in the lives of so many? This is one of many questions that will be answered in this exploration of the people, places, past and culture of Vietnam. Although many westerners still imagine Vietnam through the lens of war, it is in reality a country filled with captivating natural beauty and tranquil village life. Its highlands and rainforest regions, far from being devastated, continue to yield new species and team with exotic wildlife. Its islands and beaches are among the finest in all of Southeast Asia, and its cuisine is very possibly the most delicious you will ever find. Over two decades have passed since Vietnam was officially united, and in that time it has done a remarkable job of healing its wounds. Today, this gracious and graceful country is an outstanding travel destination. Welcome to Vietnam in the twenty-first century! This is a country located in Southeast Asia on the perimeter of the Pacific Rim and bounded by Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Burma (Mynmar), and the gargantuan People’s Republic of China. It also is a country of numerous sharp contrasts. Physically, Vietnam is a land of spectacular mountains that tower over huge fertile river deltas. It has a long and troubled history of military conflicts, but it has existed in peace for more than two decades. It is rich in natural resources and beauty but is now confronted by environmental degradation that threatens the welfare of its people. It is a land governed by a Communist party, yet it has joined the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and seems to advocate a capitalist economy. Vietnam now unite politically, many sharp divisions between the northern and southern parts of the country remain. These are just a few of the contrasts that exist today in Vietnam. Despite these many contrasts, Vietnam is finally one country in name. The end of the Second Indochina War, usually called the “Vietnam War” in the United States, finally united Vietnam politically as one country. This event is especially significant to the Vietnamese people, who have been divided for much of their history. They also have frequently been governed by outsiders who have occupied their country. This common history has given the country many heroes and heroines who are still revered today. The flag, adopted on November 30, 1955, is red with a five-pointed yellow star in the center. The red stands for the blood that was lost in the struggle for independence. The star represents the country’s unity under the leadership of the Communist Party. The five points of the star are also symbolic: They represent the country’s workers, peasants, soldiers, students, and intellectuals. Today, Vietnam has become a land of opportunity for its people because of the strong ideological foundations of Nationalism implemented by their government to its bureaucracy. If you work hard, you can succeed, unlike in earlier times, when colonial or more restrictive Communist rule prevailed. Working hard can mean laboring for 10 to 12 hours or more in the fields or in factories that are often built and operated by financiers from outside the country. There are risks: Farmers face the problems of flooding or, seasonally, too little water; there are also agricultural pests, chronically low prices, and even dreaded viruses like avian flu. Urban dwellers may have factory jobs, but that may mean working in an unhealthy crowded environment. Life can be tough, but it is easier than it was during the times of war that dominated several decades of the twentieth century. Like its people, the country is reaching out for new opportunities. These include membership not only in ASEAN but also in other regional and global organizations. New trade opportunities are being created, and old enemies have become new friends and trading partners. Future political changes may help create, or possibly restrict, more opportunities – but most Vietnamese are optimistic about their future. With one of the few remaining Communist governments in the world, Vietnam has a bureaucracy that often hampers progress. 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