Saloth Sar (May 19, 1925 – April 15, 1998) who was later known as Pol Pot was the leader of the Communist movement in Cambodia, known as the Khmer Rouge. Pol Pot was the Prime Minister of Cambodia from 1976 to 1979. During his time in power, Pol Pot relocated many of the urban citizens of Cambodia into the countryside to work in collective farms and forced labor projects with the goal of restarting civilization. An attempt by Pol Pot to form a Communist peasant farming society resulted in the deaths of approximately 25 percent of the country’s population from starvation, overwork and executions (The History Place).

Saloth Sar was born into a farming family in central Cambodia which was then part of the French Indochina. Saloth Sar was intelligent in that he traveled to Paris to study electronics but became absorbed in the study of Marxism and eventually took up his new study and neglected his previous obligations. While Pol Pot studied in Paris learning a lot about Marxism, he believed that the more he knew about it, the better the chances of circumventing a marxist revolution and ultimately he would be able to stick with his ideals of a classless society. After losing his scholarship, he returned to Cambodia where he took part in the underground Communist movement that was arousing behind the back of the French who were in control of most of the country. Prince Norodom Sihanouk, leader of Cambodia, set out a resistance against the uprising of the Communist party, and Pol Pot was forced to flee into the jungle. While in hiding, Pol Pot formed the Khmer Rouge Party whose initiative was to set out guerrilla operations that were aimed at Sihanouk’s government. U.S. launched air strikes that bombarded roads travelling into Cambodia that allowed for the Vietnamese to retreat into the countryside. After the United States’ attempt to overthrow Sihanouk’s reign, Sihanouk attempted to side with Pol Pot; however, The Khmer Rouge party launched an armed rebellion against Sihanouk’s independent regime and labeled him as a “U.S. Puppet”. All of the mayhem that took place in Cambodia at the time was derived from France’s persuasion on Cambodians that caused them to believe that they are essentially in debt of lost territory from Vietnam. It was believed that expanded a portion of their country into Cochinchina, and this caused much dismay. France’s persuasion on Cambodians formed a sense of nationalism for the Khmer Rouge party to cleanse the country of those who were not of Cambodian decent. The Vietnam war left Cambodia vulnerable as the war was heating up. The U.S. bombardment of most of Cambodia’s major cities and much of the countryside killed over 100,000 people forcing survivors into the ranks of the Khmer Rouge. On April 17, 1975, the Khmer Rouge entered Phnom Penh, deported its 2 million residents using brute force, and established the DK (Democratic of Kampuchea). Pol Pot viewed this as being a genocide of particular ethnicities such as Chinese, Laotian, and Vietnamese however many scholars did not agree with this perspective. China and Cambodia had close relations and when Vietnam invaded Cambodia, China invaded Vietnam. By the end of the Pol Pot regime, there was an approximated 2 million deaths.


Reap, Siem and McCarthy Terry. Monday, April 27, 1998. “The Butcher of Cambodia.” Times Magazine. Retrieved May 15, 2008.

“[W]ho can ever fathom the evil that men do. We stand disbelieving before genocide, when women’s throats are slit with sharp palm leaves, when children’s heads are smashed against tree trunks, when men are slaughtered with the crack of a hoe. These things happened every day in Cambodia for 3 ½ terrible years, and when the world learned of it, people could only respond with dumb horror” (Reap and McCarthy). This gruesome image of the horror that those who were captured faced cannot measure up to the actuality of the effect of genocide. All that Pol Pot believed in was that he was creating a pure communist society and whatever he did was done for his country. The Khmer Rouge revolution created hell on earth for outsiders that did not conform to them and many of the innocent citizens that resided in the country of Cambodia.

2000. “The Legacy of Pol Pol – A photographic record of mass murder.” Times Magazine. Retrieved May 15, 2008.

The pictures of innocent children that were displayed brought about a sense of melancholy because of the thought of the different kinds of torture that children went through. A “Killing Field” was uncovered in 1980 with a hill of human bones that were evidently buried to discard of the uncountable amount of humans that were sent to an early death. The Khmer Rouge secret police turned Phnom Penh high school into its headquarters which was later named S-21. Thousands of captives were tortured and executed in the former classrooms that were turned into jail cells. S-21 has now been refashioned into the Tuol Sleng Museum of genocide where thousands of pictures of Khmer Rouge victims hang on its walls. The name of Khmer Rouge, which means “Red Khmers,” was given to a leftwing Cambodian faction in the 1950’s. Led by Pol Pot, the party gained control of Cambodia in 1975. “Intellectuals and anyone else seen as standing in the way of the new social order were mercilessly killed, while many of those who escaped execution died from overwork and starvation” (The Legacy of Pol Pol – A photographic record of mass murder).

The History Place – Genocide in the 20th
Century. 1999. “Pol Pot in Cambodia 1975-1979.” Retrieved May 15, 2008.

By 1975, the U.S. had withdrawn troops from Vietnam which called for and end of the Vietnam Conflict. Cambodia’s system of government was plagued with corruption due to the loss of U.S. stabilization through military support. This was a perfect time for Pol Pot to take advantage of the instability in office and to move the Khmer Rouge closer to power. Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge army consisted of teenage peasants whose new role was guerrilla warfare, set out to Phnom Penh where they would take control of the major city on April 17th and eventually effectively seized control of Cambodia (The History Place).

Essortment. 2002. Pol Pot biography – A brief biology of Pol Pot and the devastation he brought to Cambodia.” Retrieved May 14, 2008.

Throughout 1976 and 1977, battles with Vietnam continued as well as reinforcement from China to the advantage of Cambodia. Vietnam resistance created roads that travelled into Cambodia so Vietnam could hopefully take control of the country. By January 1979 the Vietnamese forces had reached Phnom Penh which was the headquarters for the Khmer Rouge or DK, which force the Kampuchean government to flee by train while Pol Pot was taken by airplane to Thailand. Before going into exile for the next 19 years, Pol Pot was last seen in December of 1979 (Essortment).

Cambodian Communities out of crisis. 2008. “Cambodia’s Holocaust.” Retrieved May 14, 2008.

“On the pretext that they were expecting the USA to bomb Phnom Penh, the Khmer Rouge forced the whole population to evacuate the city on foot. Those who refused were shot, as were hospital patients who were unable to walk. The roads out of the city were clogged with bewildered people, clutching a few belongings. Children were separated from their parents; the old and infirm who could not keep up were left to die at the roadside(Cambodian Communities out of crisis). As Pol Pot was achieving his dream of “Year Zero,” the return of Cambodia to traditional peasant economy was in the making; however there would be no class divisions, no money, no education, and no hospitality. Certain religions were also banned after Pol Pot had taken control (Cambodian Communities out of crisis).

Kiernan, Ben. 1996. The Pol Pot Regime. New Haven and London. Yale University Press.

"The Pol Pot Regime" is Ben Kiernan's long awaited sequel to "Pol Pot's Rise to Power." Kiernan's explanation of Pol Pot's Regime throughout the novel is addressed with a lot of imagery that allows the reader to visualize what it was like to physically be in Cambodia at the time: "Dressed in khaki uniforms and U.S. Army boots, white seat bands on their wrists, they dripped with grenades and firearms. Some carried U.S.-made M-16 rifles, others M-79 grenade launchers and packs of rice rations" (Kiernan).

At first glance, mid-twentieth-century Cambodia seems a society resistant to transformation. Compared to neighboring Thailand and Vietnam, it was geographically compact, demographically dispersed, linguistically unified, ethnically homogenous, socially undifferentiated, culturally uniform, administratively unitary, politically undeveloped, economically undiversified, and educationally deprived (Kiernan). Cambodia was ethnically quite homogenous, as were Thailand and Vietnam. But unlike its two neighbors, Cambodia had had much less exposure to external cultural influence, which, when it came, was potentially destabilizing ( Kiernan). Cambodia at this time was empowered by the French colonization for over ninety years, and remained to suppress Cambodia's independence. With French colonial policy in Indochina allowing the population of Vietnamese, Chinese, Lao and Thais to dominate the cities, the majority of the Khmer people had to resort to the rural landscape for necessities. The shadowy leaders of this closed country gave few clues to their personal lives for fear that the French would discover their underground political operations. Under The Norodom Sihanouk reign, the number of high schools rose from 8 in 1953 to two hundred in 1967. Another eleven thousand students attended the nine new universities that were available. At this point nearly all Khmer's were able to achieve an education which allowed for the educated Pol Pot to take advantage of the opportunity of educating his people about Communism (Kiernan). Pol Pot joined the Cambodian and Vietnamese communists and in his first contact, Vietnamese communists began teaching him, as one of them later put it, how to "work with the masses at the base, to build up the independence committees at the village level, member by member." In 1945, Cambodia transformed itself into the Democratic Kampuchea. Under Japanese control for many years, the French eventually reimposed their control in 1945 however their absence built up a sense of nationalism for Cambodians. "Out of this nationalist struggle for independence, the first precondition for Pol Pot's Democratic Kampuchea had been realized: a viable communist party had emerged on the Cambodian political scene" (Kiernan). With the eventual exiling of many of the leaders of the KPRP, Pol Pot was able to take over the leadership of the communist party in 1963. These leaders immediately went underground, forestalling any serious party debate while preparing a rebellion against Sihanouk. This meant that the party must break off will all previous communist connections such as the Vietnamese as well as the policy of accommodation to the prince's neutralism that they had signed (Kiernan). By 1970 the Khmer Rouge party's leadership was now urban, French-educated, radical, and anti-Vietnamese. A major factor in this change was the rivalry between Chinese and Vietnamese communists for influence in this part of Southeast Asia. Cambodia sided with China mainly because they supported the new communist movement that distanced themselves from Hanoi (Kiernan). Pol Pot's revolution would not have won power without U.S. economic and military destabilization Cambodia. Leaving the country in ruins, Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge party were now able to come out of the woodwork and teach the remaining followers communist ideals as well as ethnically cleanse Cambodia.

Vietnamese in America

Text:

Peoples of Asian ancestry are dispersed throughout the United States and make up a significant portion of our culture and population. Early on, there were three main groups who initially kick started the immigration process for Asians into the San Diego area of the United States. Chinese in the mid 1800’s, Japanese in the late 1800’s, and Filipinos in the late 1800’s to early 1900’s were the original groups to immigrate into the U.S. up until the time of World War II. Because of the Naval base in San Diego, a significant number settled in that general area. Many came for economic gain due to the availability of jobs. Legislation was continually passed to slow each group from gaining momentum which is the reason for the chronological patterns of the three groups. Eventually, after WWII, the Chinese were seen as and American ally which led to the revision of much of the restricting legislation. This specifically led to a large influx of Asian women into the U.S. The Vietnam War had the same effect for Vietnamese people. Large groups of Vietnamese came to the U.S. after the fall of the South in 1975. The main difference between the Vietnamese and other Asian groups was that they were mainly refugees or “involuntary immigrants.” They were often seen as being very weak and helpless through this process. “Scholars often pair the construct of Vietnamese refugees as passive objects of sympathy with a plea to the West..” (Espiritu, pg. 412) Their differences however, are what eventually brought many of them together as allies; their numbers and coalitions being a key factor for later mobilization.
Early on, Groups like the Union of Pan-Asian Communities (UPAC), based in San Diego, had to use “interactive models of activism” to be heard in a society which served them with few advantages. They were a group who started out as a grassroots organization and eventually evolved into a political entity due to their persistence and continued support from many Asian-American groups. They started in the 70’s which was already a time of social unrest in the U.S. they changed the power structure already in place in the Asian American community by bringing in younger minds and adding women into the power mix. Multiple ethnic groups were also represented in the group. After the large influx of Vietnamese refugees in 1975, the UPAC recognized that they too were part of the same social struggle and thus should be represented in the UPAC structure. Still, there are some Vietnamese who felt they did not exactly fit into the Asian-American category. As the UPAC became more institutionalized and recognized as a serious political group, they gained more power. By 1990, the UPAC’s operating budget totaled $1.6 million; by 2002, $4.5 million. The organization was not only a social service group, but rather an outlet for marginalized peoples and an example of power in numbers. And, while they were eventually joined by other groups with similar purposes, they alone were the model for success in such social endeavors.
In terms of the media, Asian-Americans had to fight against radio and television programs which depicted them in negative and stereotypical ways. Characters in various programs like San Diego at Large and “shock radio” used stereotypes for Asian characters. This in turn led to negative views on Asians on a subliminal level. Negative connotations associated with a group through popular culture can have lasting effects and in this case did argues Vo. Mainstream society would be less likely to accept the already marginalized Asian-American community because of this. The Asian Pacific American Coalition (APAC) was the main group to step up and speak out against these cultural disgraces. Not only were the programs offensive, but they were aired early enough where children could see and hear them. When no formal apologies were given, larger groups took the APAC under their wing and used their mobilization efforts as a springboard for a larger campaign against media misuse. This brought attention to the lack of minority representation in the media.
Other groups, like the Asian Business Association (ABA), were formed to deal with the economic side of mobilization. Issues like discrimination and affirmative action were the basis for the ABA when it was constructed. This group made great strides in highlighting the importance of Asian-Americans in the business world because of their transnational links. Vo actually served as a board member for the ABA at one time in order to better understand the interworking of the organization. Not only were the Asian-American business people themselves key to this movement, but the Asian-American consumer as well. With the vivid change in socioeconomic resources, Asians were able to place themselves in positions of importance.
With the solid structure of several organizations in place, political movements were able to be formed. Voices of these groups were heard is various forums over a variety of issues. (Ong & Meyer, pp 79-80) With no clear leadership however, this was a daunting task. There was also the problem of National attention for the groups based in San Diego. Eventually, many of the Asian Americans residing in the San Diego area started to disperse and move to suburban areas. With no clearly named center for Asian American culture, people did not realize the large percentage of Asian Americans that did in fact inhabit the greater San Diego area. Suburbanization, in some ways, hindered their progress on a larger scale. Also, along with this came the need for Asian Americans to form their own identities in order to assimilate into their local environment, yet still keep a sense of self. Some Asian Americans seemed to forget their heritage completely in an effort to westernize and mesh into American culture. Others however were able to use their heritage as a link between cultures in a successful way through business. They also had to decide how they wanted to represent themselves in this aspect. Some accepted the “Pan Asian” or “Asian American” titles while other still fought for individual representation.
In comparison, not all Asian Americans around the U.S. compare in the same ways to those in the San Diego areas. In places where there are less Asian Americans and racial tension is greater, Asian Americans seem to feel a greater need to ally themselves with others. It’s incredible to see how such culturally similar groups can act so inherently different when placed into different U.S. regions. It speaks to the cultural diversity of the United States itself.

Subtexts:

Do Hien Duc, The Vietnamese Americans, Westport: Greenwood Press, 1992.

This book was written by a Vietnamese refugee who had a first hand look into what immigration was like initially after The Vietnam war and the struggles Vietnamese people had to endure while trying to assimilate into American culture. It goes along with Mobilizing An Asian American Community in that they both discuss these issues. This book however goes more in depth into the immigration processes, their lasting effects, and what it was like first hand. Both books deal with social issues for Vietnamese Americans and how immigration has evolved over time. The future of the Vietnamese people is also a main point in this book. The author goes into what can be expected in the future in terms of issues such as politics, education, and cultural adaption.

Xing, Jun. Asian America: Through the Lens. Altamira Press, 1998.

This book is an examination of the many genres of Asian-American film. The author, throughout the book, has a seemingly negative attitude toward most Asian-American film work. He specifically shows distaste for non-Asian or white directors that produce films about Asian Americans, feeling that they have no clue how to represent their group. He specifically scorns the work of Oliver Stone yet praises other Asian directors for making similar cross cultural work. The author does however point out specific genres which he feels are important to Asian-American culture. The negative pats of the book seem to be riddled with quotes backing up his own theories and ideals. It connects to the book I read through the media aspect of Asian-American culture.

Yen Le Espiritu, “Toward a Critical Refugee Study: The Vietnamese refugee subject in
US Scholarship,” Journal of Vietnamese Studies, Volume 1, Numbers 1-2, February-
August 2006.

This particular excerpt examines the influx of Vietnamese refugees into the U.S. after The Vietnam war. More specifically, it shows how the U.S. reacted to the migration and how the government continually tried to put positive spins on negative situations the Vietnamese found themselves in. The author also wasn’t to point out how “Vietnam is a country, not a war”. He says that many westerners connect Vietnamese people with the war so often, their identities are often downplayed. The narratives of “rescue and liberation” so often told in conjunction with the Vietnam War are highly unacceptable in the eyes of Espiritu. Vietnamese people need to be viewed as strong for their struggles, rather than passive and weak people.

Nhu Ngoc T. Ong and David Meyer, Protest and Political Incorporation:Vietnamese American Protests in Orange County, California, 1975–2001” Journal of Vietnamese Studies, Volume 3, Number 1 (Winter 2008)

Political activity has been an important outlet for many minority cultures when it comes to desiring to have their voice heard in a larger forum. This reading shows how protesting was used as an extension of more conventional political practices by Vietnamese Americans. Political activity was stated to have been highly important, when asked in surveys, by the Vietnamese residents of the Orange County area. Seeing as how Vietnamese immigration took place not too long ago, political practices for these groups are in their earliest stages. Leadership definition was also highly important in organizing protests around the events covered in this reading. At the end of the day, the vast majority of the people simply wanted to better the economic positions of their people. Surprisingly, the Vietnamese government were at the receiving end of most of the protesting that took place in the “Little Saigon” area of Orange County.

Lê Thi Diem Thúy, The Gangster We are All Looking For,

The story in this book is about a young girl who is forced to leave Vietnam as a refugee and comes, by boat, to California. The girl and her father come originally and are soon kicked out the home they were accepted into after the girl, disoriented from her hardships, breaks some of the owner’s possessions. The mother eventually makes it to the country, but the parents never quite assimilate into American culture. They fight constantly and are clearly frustrated with their lives. The father tells stories to the young girl throughout of his past experiences which lead the reader to believe he himself is the gangster from the title. It’s a very vague read at best, but does show how hard it can be for families to adjust and assimilate into the diverse American culture.

Linda Trinh Vo, Mobilizing an Asian American Community, Philadelphia, Temple University Press, 2004.

This text is the center piece for my project. It gives a fairly detailed account of the immigration process for, not only Vietnamese, but other Asian American groups into the U.S.. It shows the early struggles they endure, specifically in the San Diego area. The reader is able to see how multiple groups came together to form social organizations, and by mobilizing these organizations, were able to create social change on a level no one could have expected. The author, Linda Trinh Vo also examines the Asian American identity and the hardships involved with finding ones self. Finally, she compares the San Diego experience to other parts of the country.

Vietnamese in America: Context

The United States from its earliest times has been a melting pot, so to speak, of many cultures form various regions of the world. Much more recently have Asian Americans, and specifically Vietnamese people come into the mix of American culture. Like most immigrants, Asian-Americans have had to suffer many hardships, not only to get into the country itself, but to assimilate, adapt, and survive. When groups like this come to this country, it is crucial to be able to align themselves with others who have shared similar experiences in order to attain some sort of political status. Asian-American groups did just that early on, specifically on the west coast.
Mobilization efforts were not easy, yet groups were established early enough that, to this day, changes have been made. The word mobilization was originally used in the context of war. It was defined as “the act of assembling and making both troops and supplies ready for war”. When related the book Mobilizing an Asian American Community, by Linda Trinh Vo, the word is used in a similar sense, however without the classic war connotations. Asian American groups came from a diverse number of countries and thus were designated within these groups upon arriving in the U.S.. By realizing that they could have more power in greater numbers, umbrella groups for their smaller campaigns and social organizations were formed for the betterment of the larger group on a broader scale.
What some don’t necessarily agree on when it comes to this topic is the acceptance of various groups to fall into the larger “Pan Asian” and “Asian American Groups”. Some cultural croups felt as if they were underrepresented at times within these umbrella organizations, and tried to form their own political coalitions. Other groups felt as if their immigration experience had been different or even worse than others, and because of this, felt they should be represented in other ways. Many people also don’t realize that large groups of the Vietnamese immigrants specifically were forced to leave their homes and come to the U.S. rather than do it willingly. Experiences like this can lead to a completely different outlook on mobilization efforts.

Context

There is no one reason why women are treated unfairly in Vietnam. There have been different traditions and beliefs that have contributed to the current situation of gender roles in Vietnam. Gender roles have been instilled in the minds of the Vietnamese for centuries. Different cultural ideas have surfaced to equalize the rights of women in Vietnam but it often brings about little change. It is not easy to change traditions that have been in place for so long.

Ancestor worship began many years ago in Vietnam. Boys carry their grandfathers’ and fathers’ lineage with them. Boys are thought to be born with the honor of their father. When the grandfather or father passes, the young man carries his honor with him. This puts emphasis on the importance of boys as opposed to girls. When girls marry they move in with their husbands’ family leaving their family behind. They also begin to worship their husbands’ paternal lineage putting their own ancestors in the backseat. Because of this, boys are much more desired than girls because the girl will just leave the family once she is married.

Confucianism had a major impact on gender roles. Confucianism is a code of ethics or philosophy that is based on merit as opposed to military position or family situation. In the Confucian system there was a lot of emphasis on hierarchy especially in the family unit. Women were supposed to be subservient to their husband and eventually their son. Women had to obey the one above them which almost always boiled down to women obeying men. Women were socially lower than men so they were supposed to abide by these “social rules”. Women were to follow these social hierarchies or they were not following Confucian ways properly. The explosion of Confucianism on Vietnamese culture had such a negative effect of the roles of gender.

In the early 1900’s, Communism begins to filter into Vietnam. Communism made major positive steps in the right direction to equalize the genders. In this system women were “supposed” to be allowed to own land or even get a divorce if it was necessary. By necessary I mean extreme physical abuse in the marriage, nothing like they are just not in love anymore. Women were to be treated equal and no longer brutalized by men. Even though this is what Communism preached, as one might say, not much changed. If women did own land it was to go through the man’s hand. Divorces rarely happened and women still had trouble having any rights what so ever, especially in marriage.

I have discussed all of the bad aspects of gender differences in Vietnam but it is not all horrible. Many say that women in Vietnam have it much better than women in China or other countries. For example, Vietnam never practiced feet binding which was very popular in China. I was very surprised by this because China and Vietnam have many similarities. Especially currently in Vietnam, many women are very successful. Dr. Sasges brought up in class the fact that a woman in Vietnam spent something like 1.5 million dollars on a car. This is pretty amazing especially because it was a woman who was purchasing it.

Things in Vietnam continue to get better especially for women. Hopefully the future will only bring further positive changes for both genders, especially women. I can only hope that I read about equality between the genders in Vietnam and that things get even better for the country. There was such a sad past but I believe that it will only get better.

The Pol Pot Regime

Context- Vietnam's Environment from 1975 to Present

The country of Vietnam is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world,
this also means it has one of the most fragile environments. Increasing
industrialization, urbanization, population, need for natural resources,
agriculture and tourism are all threatening the balance of this delicate
country. Some of the consequences of these increase in demands include: Deforestation,
loss of coral reefs, loss of wetlands and mangroves, Pollution of the air and water,
excess solid waste, land degradation, etc. All of these problems add up to
an unsustainable environment in Vietnam that could lead to devastating consequences
for the people of Vietnam and their beloved country. This paper will focus on
three of these problems, their consequences and possible solutions.

As everyone knows, water is necessary for life, but access to clean water proves very difficult in Vietnam. Industrialization has led to a rapid increase in factories throughout Vietnam, but has left little room for the technology to keep up. The factories still have unhealthy water treatment systems and dispose of solid wastes carelessly and illegally. This disposal process, or rather, the lack of one, has caused multiple rivers to become stagnant and "dead". This leads to contaminated water for villages surrounding the factory and also pollutes the environment and it's various species. Water-borne diseases are rampant in Vietnam, from 1999-2003 alone there were six-million water-borne diseases reported(). Another water based problem is the increasing loss of mangroves, wetlands and coral reefs. The aquaculture is growing rapidly in Vietnam and as a result many mangroves and wetlands are cleared and destroyed for ventures such as fishing or catching shrimp. There have been multiple oil spills on the coast of Vietnam because of faulty equipment and a lack of easily applied
policies, leading to polluted coastlines.

Agriculture is another necessary part of Vietnamese life, but it is having
devastating effects on the land. Farmers need land and have been obtaining it
by the environmentally hazardous "slash and burn" method. This method lets off harmful gases
that cause ozone depletion. The resulting deforestation causes land degradation, which includes
excessive erosion, runoff, and throws surrounding water systems that were once static,
into disequilibrium. The loss of rain forest also has negative affects on the rare
species of plants and animals that have evolved specifically to their niche in the
rain forest. Many species that are specified to the forests of Vietnam are losing
their homes and eventually their lives.

Urbanization has led to many solid waste problems. The water systems in larger cities
are not modern enough to sustain the booming population and the massive rainfalls that occur
in Vietnam. The rainfall leads to flooding and stagnant waters that are left to drain for days.
This effects the slums more than anywhere else where about thirty to forty percent of people in the city live(). The lack of proper sewage disposal contaminates the flood waters and leads to a very unsanitary living situation. Most cities need their water systems completely redone
to fit their new, and growing, populations.

Although the problems seem daunting and unsolvable, there are practical solutions that are being applied today through environmental organizations and a concerned state government. The answer to all of the problems listed above seems to lie in the people of Vietnam. Environmental organizations are
working with people on the coastlines to find a sustainable way for their industries to continue in an environmentally friendly fashion. Farmers can easily be taught to choose sustainable practices
instead of immediate solutions that cause lasting problems for the environment.
If factories renovate their technology and listen to the people's demands the water will become more pure. Another answer is in the people's education and awareness of their environment and exactly what affects they are having on it and what will happen if nothing is done. A huge problem is that people's everyday lives involve something detrimental to the environment, but they are completely unaware. Once community members know that they must sustain their environment for their livelihoods to continue, there is little resistance to new, sustainable ideas.

Between the 1950’s and 1980’s, Vietnam experimented with collective cooperatives in their Communist state. I use the term “experimented” because in the end, their efforts to collectivize the peasantry into agricultural based labor exchanges and eventually cooperatives all failed, returning to the individual and family based farming style that had been prevalent in previous centuries. Over the course of this paper, I will discuss several different reasons contributing to the ultimate failure of collective cooperatives including authoritative deficiencies, corruption, distrust, and war that together lead to the demise of the collective cooperative.

My primary source of information and course of study for this paper was The Power of Everyday Politics, a book by Benedict J. Tria Kerkvliet. According to Kerkvliet, “there are two processes in northern Vietnam-building collective farming and dismantling it (p.1)”. Kerkvliet lived in Vietnam four times throughout a ten year period and during his stays he visited hundreds of locals to discuss the conditions of living in collective cooperatives and the social and political incentives to remain collectivized or to lash out against cooperatives. He also did a considerable amount of course study in Hawaii as well as Australia.

According to Kerkvliet, there are five political criteria that must be met: perceiving shared problems, organizational experience and local leadership, addressing shared problems collectively and trust in order to sustain a successful socialist government. Kerkvliet says that “first individuals must realize that they share a serious problem requiring a collaborative solution”. Many years of war with the French left the country devastated with extensive property damage, loss of many beasts of burden used to till the land, lives lost and the local economies were left in shambles. This was one lead into collectivization. Second was organizational experience and local leadership and this is where the Communist Party stepped in, with their proposals of a socialist society with collective farming and production practices. Third was to address the shared problems collectively, and this was done by the Communist Party implementing socialist programs within the society beginning with the imposition of experimental labor exchanges. The fourth was trust involving how individuals felt about working together and also how they felt about the authorities’ ability to provide a fair environment in which the programs were run. The way the northern Vietnamese government handled these issues is what lead to the deterioration of collective farming.

Concerning the first of the criteria, it is obvious that the country was in shambles and was immediately addressed with the overthrowing of the French colonials under the leadership of the Communist Party (which addresses the second criteria as well). It was with the latter two criteria that the peasant’s dealing with what Kerkvliet calls “everyday politics” eventually lead to the dissolution of the collective cooperatives.

The first half of his book describes the social and political conditions that moved peasants to farm collectively and the processes by which they did so. Maltreatment from the French colonial authorities with their exploitive imperialist intentions by means of violence fueled by racial prejudice, many Vietnamese peasants decided it was a good idea to side with the Communist Party in an effort to expel the French from their country. In 1954, northern Vietnam achieved sovereignty over the French colonial authority and was governed by the Communist Party led by Ho Chi Minh who was in favor of collectivizing the entire nation. Given the conditions of war and extreme poverty, collectivism looked favorable in the peasantry’s eye because it promised improved living conditions, increased wages and a stronger social structure with everybody working together toward a common goal.

Vietnam based much of its communist revolution on China and Mao Zedong’s Great Leap Forward campaign. In Vietnam, it began with the government implementing experimental labor exchanges by which families would share resources such as tools, water buffaloes, oxen, and especially labor. Families would combine their efforts and construct more and better irrigation ditches, dykes, and various other forms of engineering projects to better the farming conditions within the communities. Villages would pool families together to assist with plowing, planting and harvesting fields as well as sharing resources such as manure and fertilizers in order to yield more crops upon each harvest. By doing this, villages could share in the risks of their crops being destroyed by flooding and various other phenomena that may destroy the food supply and have more available resources in tough times.

From 1954 to 1960, the national government pushed to turn all labor exchanges into collective cooperatives and to turn the existing collective cooperatives from low level to high level ones. Some reasons for accelerating growth of cooperatives included increased production (at least initially), controlled consumption and trade of agricultural products and a direct proportion of agricultural earnings to state agencies in charge of building factories and other parts of the economy (Kerkvliet, 67). Party leaders and officials wished to “fast track” also because they felt that rural living conditions were deteriorating rather quickly, for according to leader Truong Chinh, “Unless collectivization was vigorously pursued, land will be concentrated little by little in the hands of a few persons, and class differentiation will be accentuated (Kerkvliet, 67)”.

Initially, many leaders found the rapid collectivization technique to be a success for labor exchanges and cooperatives seemed to be spreading quickly throughout the Red River Delta. Farmers were now applying new agricultural techniques that were more effective and efficient. By assisting each other and spreading the workload over a broader spectrum. Also, the government liked how the peasants were working to expand the nation’s irrigation programs(Kerkvliet, 67). The peasantry experienced improved rural living conditions compared to the standards of only a few years prior, although most everybody was still considerably poor. The goal was to reach widespread collectivization by 1961(Kerkvliet, 69).

More people were signing up for collective cooperatives during the late 1950’s also because many peasants gave the Party and their policies the benefit of the doubt as quoted by a villager in a report in Kien An province:

“The majority of people are resolved to build them [cooperatives]. The party in the past and until now has looked after our interests; never has it taken us down into a big hole. Helping to advance socialism [with cooperatives] is an honor, even though there are many problems which we must try hard to overcome” (Kerkvliet, 73).

Another incentive to join the cooperatives was that up to 5% of the collective land was allotted for cooperative members to farm individually so that they may raise their own pigs, ducks, fish and grow some vegetables or rice. Unfortunately, the 5% was to be split evenly between the villagers and sometimes when new families were formed within the villages no extra land would be delegated to them, they were to share with their parents’ portion. In some cooperatives, brigade members allowed more than the 5% to be allotted for individual farming which often was overlooked by the local and provincial officials and worked beneficially for everyone (Kerkvliet, 77).

Other improvements on rural life brought by the cooperatives were new healthcare facilities to be offered at little or no cost to the members, more public schools and a secondary education was offered to the members as well. Education rates increased dramatically from 300 Vietnamese out of 10,000 that had gone to school in the 1930’s to 700 out of 10,000 in 1960 and up to 2,500 in 1970 and 47 percent of those were women (Kerkvliet, 81). Also,” the number of hospitals and health clinics increased from about 750 throughout northern Vietnam to 4,800 in 1960 (Kerkvliet, 81)”.

Although membership among collective cooperatives significantly increased throughout the late fifties up to 1961, there were a great many disgruntled members who applied for their resignation of their membership as well as a great many peasants who simply refused to join. Between 1960 and ’61, the benefits of joining a collective cooperative were diminishing for a number of reasons.

It is true however that of the peasants that joined, many did so under pressure and coercion. Similar as with China during the Great Leap Forward, Communist officials “invited those opposing cooperatives to come to district offices and explain their objections (Kerkvliet, 71)” often making them stay for days or weeks to sit through “collectivist tutorials” until they finally accepted to join. Another method of pressuring people to join was that they “had village wide broadcasts announcing the names of those who had not become cooperative members yet”, subjecting individuals to the scrutiny of their peers (Kerkvliet, 71).

There were some who opposed collectivization by tearing down or writing Ngo DInh Diem’s name in spray paint on signs promoting collective cooperatives. There were other vigilantes who sabotaged cooperatives’ fields and torched cooperative officer’s and local police’s houses however violent protests were few in number and very sporadic (Kerkvliet, 71). Another more passive aggressive method of protest however was that peasants who were bound to join the cooperatives anyway would often sell their draft animals to make a little extra money and so as not to have to give it up for the benefit of the cooperative. Although public pronouncements from the Communist party claimed that “peasants eagerly and enthusiastically wanted cooperatives (Kerkvliet, 69)” , reports from both the national and local levels stated that “Peasants and cooperative members lacked confidence and retained a strong sense of private ownership(Kerkvliet, 69)”.

Nat

Rydstrom, Helle. Embodying Morality: Growing Up in Rural Northern Vietnam. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2003.

This is the main book that I read for my topic which was Reform and Gender. This book was very insightful about growing up in Vietnam. It discussed the unequal treatment between boys and girls. The main aspect of this book was growing up as a morally acceptable person. If you are taught good morals from a young age you will become moral. As discussed in my paper, the way in which morality is taught is different for girls than it is for boys. There are so many interesting details in this book that are not covered in my paper so if you are interested you should read this.

Tran, Nhung Tuyet. “Beyond the Myth of Equality: Daughters’ Inheritance Rights in the Le Code.” Borderless Histories. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2006. 121-146.

This article discusses the Le Code and how it gave women the right to equal inheritance. Women were allowed property rights but all of this was somewhat of an illusion. In my paper I discuss how many rights of women did not exist nor did they ever. Many of the traditions that exist in Vietnam were adopted from Chinese customs. The main topic of this article was land. Women were not allowed to own land. It had to go through their husbands or their sons. This article gives the details about land reform and women’s rights in these land reforms.

Changing Gender Realtions in Vietnam. The World Bank: June 2000. http://sitesources.worldbank.org/INTGENDER/Resources/wp14.

This article is about gender differences in Vietnam. Many of the differences date back to Confucian times when gender inequality was instilled in Vietnam. This article discusses interactions between men and women in the house and in other areas. It discusses certain gender beliefs and stereotypes that are created. It is a good site just because it gives you many of the main points instead of going into all of the hairy details so check it out if you are interested.

Drummond, Lisa, ed. Rydstrom, Helle, ed. Gender Practices In Contemporary Vietnam. NIAS Press, 2004.

This book concentrates on things like Confucianism and Socialism and why they contributed to the gender roles in Vietnam. Another cool thing about this book is that it was edited by the same author that wrote the book that I read for this paper. Much like my book it discusses certain body languages and body displays between the genders. One really interesting thing that this book discusses that I was not finding on other books was sexual harassment. It concentrated on the harassment in the classroom but I think that this is a topic that you may want to read about.

Ghuman, Sharon. “Attitudes About Sex and Marital Sexual Behavior in Hai Duong Province, Vietnam.” Studies in Family Planning. Vol. 36, No. 2. June 2005.

This article discusses attitudes concerning sexual relations outside of marriage. This is a taboo discussion and is looked down upon for many Vietnamese if they engage in premarital sex. More and more acceptance of premarital sexual activity is becoming apparent especially in very urban areas. Women are frowned upon much more for engaging in such activity which is the case in many places, not just Vietnam. If you are more interested in things along these lines or want to learn more you can check out this article.

Leshkowich, Ann Marie. “Women, Buddhist, Entrepreneur: Gender, Moral Values and Class Anxiety in Late Socialist Vietnam.” Journal of Vietnamese Studies. Vol. 1, No. 1,2. February-August 2006.

This article discussed women in the business world or as entrepreneurs. Many of the women that were interviewed said that they were just trying to make a living for their family instead of describing themselves as successful business owners. This article concentrates on one woman in particular by talking with her and the experiences that she has with Buddhism and the Business world. I thought that this article was interesting and worth reading. It was quite a different angle than many of the other articles.

Nat

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Helle Rydstrom began her studies in Vietnam in 1994. Rydstrom is from Honolulu, Hawaii and was interested in studying the way in which children are raised in rural Vietnam. Most of her studies took place in Northern Vietnam where she shadowed five different families. Rydstrom concentrated her studies on the children in these families, which included nine girls and four boys, and how they are taught to be “moral” beings. The families that she studied were composed of several generations because Rydstrom was interested in how the children learn about and from a hierarchy. In this paper, I am going to focus on the differentiated treatment between boys and girls in Vietnam.

Growing up to be a person with good morality in Vietnam is very important. “First Morality, Then Knowledge” is written on the side of the Primary School building in Northern Vietnam (P. 123 Rydstrom). In Vietnam, raising a morally acceptable individual is vital for the family and their reputation. Doing this is much more complicated than it may seem. The morals that are instilled in boys are completely different than the morals that are instilled in girls. Not only do parents instill these morals differently between the genders but the education children receive also introduces these different morals. During the Confucian period women were looked down upon and looked at as less important than men. Communists made an effort to change this. Women were said to be equal and should be able to divorce when they feel it necessary. In reality, not much changed in Vietnam. Women are still treated and looked at in much of the same way.

In Vietnam, morality is the way in which one behaves. As mentioned earlier, morality has a different meaning for boys than it does for girls. In Vietnam there is a concept known as tinh cam. “Tinh cam is about adjusting and accommodating oneself to others and, in doing so, fostering relationships that are smooth and without friction” (P. 52 Rydstrom). Tinh cam is known as behaving peacefully and just as many concepts taught in Vietnam, are different between boys and girls. Achieving tinh cam as a boy is not the same as it is for a girl.

In Vietnam, ancestral worship is still at the forefront of most homes in Vietnam. Boys are thought to contain their father’s lineage from the time that they are born. This lineage includes only the paternal side of the families. He carries his family’s reputation and morality within his body. His body is that which carries the continuation of future generations so even more emphasis is put on the importance of boys as opposed to girls. On the other hand, girls are thought to be born with what is commonly known as a “blank slate”. Girls do not embody the honor and morality of their father’s lineage therefore girls need to be taught morality and honor to become part of their lineage.

In Vietnam, many things factor into the difference in treatment and raising techniques between boys and girls. Boys usually stay with the family that they are born into, while girls move in with their husband’s family. Because of these factors families in Vietnam want to have baby boys. If couples in Vietnam do not have a boy they will often continue to have children until they have a boy. Families who have more than two children are usually composed of all girls and one boy. Many husbands leave their wives if they are unable to have children or if they never give birth to a boy. Women feel unworthy if they do not have a boy. In fact, women are defined as moral by their ability to bear a child. In other words, a morally acceptable woman is defined by what she produces, not who she is. Actually she is moral as long as she produces a boy.

Boys and girls are treated very differently by their parents and grandparents. Boys are louder, more mischievous, and question authority much more than girls do. Boys play more and misbehave more often. Boys look up to their father and grandfather for guidance while girls look up to their mother and grandmother. Girls are quieter and more reserved than boys are. They help out more around the house. Boys are disciplined less than girls are. It is seen as cute or acceptable when boys are mischievous because that is how they are “supposed” to be. If girls misbehave they are seen as morally unacceptable and their families are thought to have failed in raising them. In fact, because girls are seen as “blank slates” when they are born, it is thought that they need more teaching and training to become moral.

“Education is officially considered the most critical means by which Vietnamese society can progress and move beyond what are defined as backward and feudal Confucian values that privilege sons” (P. 118 Rydstrom). The Education System has made leaps and bounds the attempt to equalize the treatment of boys and girls but it is not perfect. Morality is still the most important thing to teach the children but they are taught in different ways. The textbooks that the children learn from depict girls as quiet and reserved. In the majority of the textbooks, girl’s faces are not shown. They are shown from the back or they are bending down. In class the children do exercises where girls are part of a family and boys are workers or some kind. The girls are corrected if they are not polite enough or if they hold the baby doll wrong. Girls are rarely praised for their good behavior while boys are continuously praised.

This book did a good job of illustrating interactions amongst family members in Vietnam, in particular interactions between the genders. It went into detail about why some of these specific gender roles came about but I will go into more explanations in the next part of my paper.