Vietnamese Society in Transition

In this bilingual publication, (English and French), academics from various disciplines and countries - including Vietnam - have been brought together to diseuss agricultural engineering, economic development, religion, education, and gender in colonial and post-colonial Vietnam. Most of them are taking an insiders' position. The emphasis of the book lies on the postwar societal and cultural transformations in the country. A better understanding of new social and cultural ways in contemporary Vietnam entails excursions into the past and sound comparison. For the first time in the history of Vietnamese studies chapters are devoted to the position of women in colonial and post-colonial settings and on the legitimacy of state intervention in women's bodies under different regimes on the one hand and on religion and religious revival on the other. What makes this book special is the way the authors, stemming from such heterogene domains, provide an in-depth analysis of the development of this modern socialist state. Their approach and analysis of Vietnamese society can only be called unparalleled.