Structure, Practice, and History: Contemporary Anthropological Research on Vietnam

Abstract

Anthropological research on Vietnam has undergone an unparalleled growth in the past two decades, thanks to the relatively easier access to Vietnam for fieldwork and the fascination of many researchers with Vietnam's profound economic and sociocultural changes in the past half a century. Fieldwork in Vietnam, however, remains heavily circumscribed. Our understanding of the interplay of global forces and of the state and local dynamics in shaping social and ideological structure, practice, and historical events will be further enhanced by more collaboration among anthropologists working on Vietnam, as well as by more systematic comparative research in different Vietnamese regions and localities.