[Monograph] Innovation, market economy and modernization

What is particularly interesting about Dr. Chau’s book is the rich material on how the hard-working, industrious people in a very dynamic and traditional rural community in the Red River Delta have adapted to the challenges of the Doi Moi process. This book clearly contributes a new case study to the anthropological knowledge base on rural residents and their adaptation to the opportunities and challenges of transition periods. In doing so, this study contributes to highlighting the role of Vietnam as a new and important context for social science studies on the process of global economic transformation, and at the same time contributes an insight into the system of research works by experts on Vietnam who share a common interest in the nature and impacts of the Doi Moi period in rural Vietnam and beyond.

I believe that Vietnamese readers will gain much from Dr. Chau’s deep and rigorous analysis of his research results, and will be impressed by his sensitivity as an ethnographer. In this work, he has demonstrated the best of the special skills and qualities required of an ethnographer/social anthropologist. As social anthropologists, we want to explain and analyze issues on the basis of respect, openness to learning, and inheritance of the research results of scholars in other disciplines, both past and present. And our top priority is to show the highest respect for the dignity and privacy of the people and communities we study through our long-term fieldwork. In an anthropological study, the respectful and serious attitude in recording the stories and experiences that people share with us is one of the most important goals, and in this book, Dr. Chau has met the highest standards of social anthropological research, demonstrated through meticulousness, honesty, humility and precision in the observation process to record all the diverse colors of the complexity of life that we encountered.

Personally, I was extremely happy to be Dr. Chau’s scientific advisor during his PhD studies, and I feel extremely proud to witness his enthusiasm and efforts during his studies and on the path of independent research. Not only did he set big and strict goals for himself, he also showed admirable determination and courage to realize those goals and complete these studies. Dr. Chau’s book explores one of the issues that has not been clarified in the studies of international scholars, but is of great significance to contemporary Vietnam. It is about how the daily economic life of rural families and communities in Vietnam has changed since the beginning of Doi Moi, and how hard-working, industrious farmers in Vietnam have grasped diverse livelihood opportunities to fulfill their responsibility of taking care of their beloved families, in the context of profound changes taking place in economic life, from employment, land, in economic activities at home as well as in trading and commercial life.

Now, as Dr. Chau has revised and edited his thesis into a richly researched monograph, he has shared his findings about the community in northern Vietnam, which he has named Xuan Village, with Vietnamese readers. To me, this is a promising prospect. Through Dr. Chau’s meticulous and detailed observations, readers will see the extraordinary richness, creativity, and courage of the people of Xuan Village, as they adapt and face the challenges of their economic life, both past and present. We will learn a lot from the people of Xuan Village, because their voices, their life stories about their daily lives, and their determination to provide the best for their families and seek life opportunities for their children are the central and most important content of this book. In the book, readers will understand the lives they lived, how they thought, acted, and how they adapted to the visions of development and plans for expanding economic horizons, which have been and are considered the great goals of Vietnam today.

Dr. Chau’s book about the world of the people of Xuan village is a worthy recognition of his concern, sincerity and efforts in the process of conceiving and carrying out this creative but also challenging research. I believe that the book will be warmly and widely received by readers.

Susan Bayly

Professor of Historical Anthropology

University of Cambridge, UK