Since the mid-1980s, Vietnam has experienced remarkable economic, political, and social change. This is the first study in English to focus on rural Vietnam?where nearly 80 percent of Vietnam's people live, much of its economic production occurs, and political upheavals earlier this century changed the course of history.Analyzing the impact of econ

Vietnam's Rural Transformation

Kerkvliet, Benedict J. Tria

Business & Money

Routledge

Newly available with an updated bibliographic essay, this highly acclaimed work explores the Huk rebellion, a momentous peasant revolt in the Philippines. Unlike prevailing top-down analysis, Kerkvliet seeks to understand the movement from the point of view of its participants and sympathizers. He argues that seeing a peasant revolt through the eyes of those who rebelled explains and clarifies the actions of people who otherwise might appear irrational. Drawing on a rich array of documents and in-depth interviews with peasants and rebel leaders, the author provides definitive answers to the causes of the rebellion, the goals of the rebels, and the process of resistance.

The Huk Rebellion: A Study of Peasant Revolt in the Philippines

History

Asia

University of California Press

In this rich and probing study, an experienced ethnographer examines the everyday politics of a rice farming village in central Luzon. Contending that the faction and patron-client relationships emphasized by conventional studies of Philippine politics turn out to be only one small part of political life, Kerkvliet offers a highly nuanced and fascinating portrait of political relationships among villagers. The world he portrays is complex and multifaceted: in a period of flux, relations of status and class shift as traditional roles give way to new social identities. Kerkvliet demonstrates how disputes about claims to land or controversies around wages lie at the heart of political life regardless of whether they manifest themselves in the usual "political arenas." Kerkvliet shows how everyday politics gives evidence of contending beliefs about what is just and who has rights to particular resources. Furthermore, relationships between people in different class and status positions are far less harmonious than they might appear on the surface. Embedded in this contentious interaction are divergent ideas about how resources should be distributed—the privileged emphasize values supported by capitalism, while the poor press for rights to satisfy basic needs and for human dignity. Everyday Politics in the Philippines is a comprehensive and masterful study that revises our notions of political life in rural areas of the Third World. It is a distinguished work of scholarship that will appeal to a broad range of social scientists.

Everyday Politics in the Philippines: Class and Status Relations in a Central Luzon Village

Politics & Social Sciences

Anthropology

This rich study examines the everyday politics of a rice farming village in central Luzon. Contending that the faction and patron-client relationships emphasized by conventional studies are but one part of Philippine political life, Kerkvliet offers a nuanced and fascinating portrait of political relationships among villagers. The world he portrays is complex and multifaceted: in a period of flux, relations of status and class shift as traditional roles give way to new social identities. The author demonstrates how disputes over land or controversies around wages lie at the heart of political life regardless of whether they manifest themselves in the usual political arenas.Kerkvliet shows how everyday politics illuminates contending beliefs about what is just and who has rights to particular resources. Furthermore, relationships between people in different class and status positions are far less harmonious than they might appear on the surface. Embedded in this contentious interaction are divergent ideas about how resources should be distributed―the privileged emphasize values supported by capitalism, while the poor press rights to the satisfaction of basic needs and to human dignity. A comprehensive and masterful classic, Everyday Politics in the Philippines revises our notions of political life in the developing world. Now available again with a new preface, postscript, and updated bibliography, this updated edition will be welcomed by a broad range of social scientists.

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

This rich study examines the everyday politics of a rice farming village in central Luzon. Contending that the faction and patron-client relationships emphasized by conventional studies are but one part of Philippine political life, Kerkvliet offers a nuanced and fascinating portrait of political relationships among villagers. The world he portrays is complex and multifaceted: in a period of flux, relations of status and class shift as traditional roles give way to new social identities. The author demonstrates how disputes over land or controversies around wages lie at the heart of political life regardless of whether they manifest themselves in the usual political arenas. Kerkvliet shows how everyday politics illuminates contending beliefs about what is just and who has rights to particular resources. Furthermore, relationships between people in different class and status positions are far less harmonious than they might appear on the surface. Embedded in this contentious interaction are divergent ideas about how resources should be distributed--the privileged emphasize values supported by capitalism, while the poor press rights to the satisfaction of basic needs and to human dignity. A comprehensive and masterful classic, Everyday Politics in the Philippines revises our notions of political life in the developing world. Now available again with a new preface, postscript, and updated bibliography, this updated edition will be welcomed by a broad range of social scientists.

Ordinary people's everyday political behavior can have a huge impact on national policy: that is the central conclusion of this book on Vietnam. In telling the story of collectivized agriculture in that country, Benedict J. Tria Kerkvliet uncovers a history of local resistance to national policy and gives a voice to the villagers who effected change. Not through open opposition but through their everyday political behavior, villagers individually and in small, unorganized groups undermined collective farming and frustrated authorities' efforts to correct the problems.
The Power of Everyday Politics is an authoritative account, based on extensive research in Vietnam's National Archives and in the Red River Delta countryside, of the formation of collective farms in northern Vietnam in the late 1950s, their enlargement during wartime in the 1960s and 1970s, and their collapse in the 1980s. As Kerkvliet shows, the Vietnamese government eventually terminated the system, but not for ideological reasons. Rather, collectivization had become hopelessly compromised and was ultimately destroyed largely by the activities of villagers. Decollectivization began locally among villagers themselves; national policy merely followed. 
The power of everyday politics is not unique to Vietnam, Kerkvliet asserts. He advances a theory explaining how everyday activities that do not conform to the behavior required by authorities may carry considerable political weight.

The Power of Everyday Politics: How Vietnamese Peasants Transformed National Policy

Economics

Cornell University Press

Since the mid-1980s, Vietnam has experienced remarkable economic, political, and social change. This is the first study in English to focus on rural Vietnam—where nearly 80 percent of Vietnam's people live, much of its economic production occurs, and political upheavals earlier this century changed the course of history.Analyzing the impact of economic liberalization on the countryside, the contributors note that despite significant improvements in real income for most rural Vietnamese, poverty is still pronounced and socioeconomic inequality appears to be growing. The poorest now appear to have less access to educational and health services. Environmental conditions also pose significant problems. Highlighting the dynamic political scene in Vietnam, the contributors also consider the interplay between national policymaking and local pressures and activity.

Vietnam's Rural Transformation (Transitions : Asia & Asian America)

Porter, Doug J

Westview Press

Since the mid-1980s, Vietnam has experienced remarkable economic, political, and social change. This is the first study in English to focus on rural Vietnam ― where nearly 80 per cent of its people live, much of its economic production occurs, and political upheavals earlier this century changed the course of history. Analyzing the impact of economic liberalization on the countryside, the contributors note that despite significant improvements in real income for most rural Vietnamese, poverty is still pronounced and socio-economic inequality appears to be growing. The poorest now appear to have less access to educational and health services. Environmental conditions also pose significant problems. Highlighting the dynamic political scene in Vietnam, the contributors also consider the interplay between national policymaking and local pressures and activity.

Vietnam's Rural Transformation (Transitions: Asia & Asian America)

Reference

Perseus

Since 1990 public political criticism has evolved into a prominent feature of Vietnam's political landscape. So argues Benedict Kerkvliet in his analysis of Communist Party–ruled Vietnam. Speaking Out in Vietnam assesses the rise and diversity of these public displays of disagreement, showing that it has morphed from family whispers to large-scale use of electronic media. 
In discussing how such criticism has become widespread over the last three decades, Kerkvliet focuses on four clusters of critics: factory workers demanding better wages and living standards; villagers demonstrating and petitioning against corruption and land confiscations; citizens opposing China's encroachment into Vietnam and criticizing China-Vietnam relations; and dissidents objecting to the party-state regime and pressing for democratization. He finds that public political criticism ranges from lambasting corrupt authorities to condemning repression of bloggers to protesting about working conditions. Speaking Out in Vietnam shows that although we may think that the party-state represses public criticism, in fact Vietnamese authorities often tolerate and respond positively to such public and open protests.

Speaking Out in Vietnam: Public Political Criticism in a Communist Party–Ruled Nation

Getting Organized in Vietnam: Moving in and Around the Socialist State

Social Sciences

ISEAS Publishing

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Kerkvliet, Benedict J. Tria. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Kerkvliet, Benedict J. Tria

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Kerkvliet, Benedict J. Tria. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Vietnam's Rural Transformation

The Huk Rebellion: A Study of Peasant Revolt in the Philippines

Everyday Politics in the Philippines: Class and Status Relations in a Central Luzon Village

Everyday Politics in the Philippines: Class and Status Relations in a Central Luzon Village

Everyday Politics in the Philippines: Class and Status Relations in a Central Luzon Village

The Power of Everyday Politics: How Vietnamese Peasants Transformed National Policy

Vietnam's Rural Transformation (Transitions : Asia & Asian America)

Vietnam's Rural Transformation (Transitions: Asia & Asian America)

Speaking Out in Vietnam: Public Political Criticism in a Communist Party–Ruled Nation

Getting Organized in Vietnam: Moving in and Around the Socialist State