The power of everyday politics : How Vietnamese peasants transformed national policy

The Power of Everyday Politics

Blank Page

The Power of

Everyday Politics

How Vietnamese Peasants

Transformed National Policy

BENEDICT J. TRIA KERKVLIET

Cornell University Press ITHAcA AND LONDoN

Copyright © 2005 by Cornell University

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review. this

book, or parts thereof~ must not be reproduced in any form without

permission in writing ±rom the publisher. For information, address

Cornell University Press, Sage House, 5T2 East State Street, Ithaca,

NewYork T485o.

First published 2005 by Cornell University Press

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Kerkvliet, Benedict ].

The power of everyday politics : how Vietnamese peasants transformed national policy I

Benedict ]. Kerkvliet.

p. em.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN o-8or4-430T-6 (cloth : alk. paper)

1. Collectivization of agriculture-Vietnam. 2. Agriculture and state-Vietnam.

3. Peasantry-Vietnam. I. Title.

HDr492.V 5K47 2005

338. r'8597-dc22

Printed in the United States of America

Cornell University Press strives to use

environmentally responsible suppliers and materials to the

fullest extent possible in the publishing of its books. Such

materials include vegetable-based, low-VOC inks and acid-tree

papers that are recycled, totally chlorine-tree, or partly

composed of nonwood fibers. For further information, visit our

website at www.cornellpress.cornell.edu.

Cloth printing TO 9 7 6 4 2

2004019430

To all my teachers in public schools (Great Falls,

Montana), college (Whitman), graduate school

(University ofWisconsin, Madison), and later years

(University of Hawai'i, Manoa), especially (in

chronological order)

Ma~garet M. TM:zlsh

Inez Anderson

Urban F Isaacs

Svein Oksenholt

John J Stifamiff

Robert Flutzo

Robert Whitner

Henry Hart

Fred R. Vtm der Mehden

Hanna Fenichel Pitken

John R. W Smail

James C. Scott

Matifred Hemziny:sen

~r,zuyen Kim Thu

Blank Page

Contents

List (!f Tables and Illustrations vm

Acknowledgments x

r. Introduction

2. Theorizing Everyday Politics in Collective Farming 8

3. Building on Wobbly Foundations, 1955-1961 37

4· Coping and Shoring Up, I96I-I974 79

5. Collapsing from Within, 1974-198I 143

6. Dismantling Collective Farming, Expanding the Family Farm,

I98I-I990 190

7· Conclusion 234

Appendixes

r. Tables and graph 245

2. Distribution to Collective Cooperative Members 255

Vietnamese Glossary 261

Selected Places and Terms 269

Abbreviations 273

Bibliography 277

Index 299

Vll

Tables and Illustrations

TABLES

I. Food production in the Red River delta and all of northern Vietnam, 1939,

1954-1994 246

2. Labor exchange groups in northern Vietnam, 1955-1960 248

3. Agricultural collective cooperatives in northern Vietnam,

1955-1960 248

4. Proportion of northern Vietnam agrarian households in collective

cooperatives, 1960-1981 249

5. Consumption of staple and other food by collective cooperative peasants in

northern Vietnam, 1959-1974, 1976-1980 250

6. Households per agricultural collective cooperative and annual production

per capita in northern Vietnam, 1959-1980 251

7. Income sources of an average collective cooperative member 252

8. What is left for an average paddy producer in Red River delta

collective cooperatives prior to and during the product contract

arrangement 253

GRAPH

I. Food per capita relative to the size of a collective cooperative 245

Vlll

Illustrations 1x

MAPS

I. Northern Vietnam, circa 1990 47

2. Provinces in and around the Red River delta, circa 1990 48

Acknowledgments

My journey to complete this book benefited from timely directions, assis￾tance, and encouragement. It would be impossible to thank all who helped.

Here I name only some of them.

In Vietnam, my greatest debts are to the Trung Tam Nghien Cuu Viet

Nam va Giao Luu Van Hoa (Center for Vietnamese and Intercultural

Studies) of the Hanoi National University, especially its director, Phan Huy

Le, and deputy director, Doan Thien Thuat. Le Van Sinh and Nguyen

Quang Ngoc, two faculty members associated with the center, worked

assiduously with me during numerous interviews with villagers and other

informants. Through their support and companionship, these gentlemen

enhanced my work immeasurably. Others with the center helped me on

many occasions, especially Nguyen Van Chinh, Phan Dai Doan, Vo Minh

Giang, Dang Xuan Khang, Nguyen Dinh Le, Nguyen Van Phong, Phan

Phuong Thao, and Dinh Trung Kien. I also thank Phung Huu Phu, rector

of the university's College of Social Sciences and Humanities during the

1990s, and Bui Phung, Nguyen Anh Que, and Nguyen Thi Thuan at the

university's Vietnamese Language Faculty, where I continued my study of

the nation's beautiful language.

I am grateful to the director of Vietnam's National Archives Number 3,

Nguyen Thi Man, and to its staff for allowing me to begin reading records

in late 1995 just after the archives were moved to a new location. I am

also thankful to Vietnam's National Library in Hanoi for its rewarding,

invaluable collection.

At various times, Vietnamese researchers who have published on agri￾cultural collectivization kindly explained aspects of their work. I am par￾X

Acknowledgments xi

ticularly grateful to Chu Huu Quy, Chu Van Lam, Dang Phong, Dao The

Tuan, Nguyen Huu Tien, Phi Van Ba, and Tran Due. Others in and around

Hanoi who aided my work are Due Thong, Nguyen Thi Minh Hi en,

Nguyen Thi Tuyet, Pham Thu Lan, Pham Van Hoc, Pharr Van Hung, and

Tuong Lai.

Among the most memorable times in my research were conversations

with villagers in the Red River delta, especially in subdistricts where I

spent the most time: Da Ton, Dao Due, Nghiem Xuyen, Quat Luu, Tam

Canh, and Tien Thang. I am also grateful to the people of Binh Minh,

Dung Tien, Dai Kim, Kim Lan, Tam Hung, Thanh Liet, Van Hoang, and

Van Nhan for sharing their knowledge and experiences.

I am profoundly thankful to Nguyen Kim Thu at the University of

Hawai'i, where in 1989-1991 I began to get serious about studying

Vietnam. She made it her project to teach me more Vietnamese. Others at

the university who were especially encouraging and helpful include Bui

Phung, Steve O'Harrow, Kristin Pelzer, and Truong Buu Lam.

The Australian National University's Research School of Pacific and

Asian Studies, which I joined in 1992, provided an enormous boost. Thanks

to the school's resources and research environment, I made several trips to

Vietnam, devoted two or three days a week largely to my own work, and

drew heavily on the university's fine library and the nearby National

Library of Australia. Librarians Yen Musgrove and Dorothea Polonyi have

been especially kind. I am also grateful to members of the Department of

Political and Social Change, especially X. L. Ding, Bev Fraser, John Gilles￾pie, Russell Heng, Natalie Hicks, David Koh, Allison Ley, Claire Smith,

Drew Smith, Carl Thayer, and Thaveeporn Vasavakul. Others at the ANU

who have helped me include Anita Chan, Oanh Collins, Jim Fox, Andrew

Hardy, Nguyen Nghia Bien, Merle Ricklefs, Philip Taylor, Ton That Quynh

Du, and Jon Unger. My thanks also to Jenny Sheehan for preparing the

maps and graph. Adam Fforde shared with me his library and insights on

Vietnam while also sharply criticizing my analysis. Shortly after moving to

Canberra, my wife and I were lucky to meet Le Thi Ngan, Pharr Dinh

The, and Pharr Dinh Thay. Initially as students, then as colleagues and dear

friends, they greatly enhanced my study of Vietnam.

The individuals at the ANU to whom I have the largest debt of grati￾tude are David Marr and Pham Thu Thuy. David, an eminent historian of

Vietnam, has been a mentor, colleague, friend, verbal jousting partner, and

critical reader of my manuscripts, including one for this book. Working

with him has been an unforgettable experience. Pham Thu Thuy has helped

me plow through Vietnamese newspapers and articles. In addition to ben-

xn Acknowledgments

efiting from her research assistance, I have learned much from Thuy and

her husband, Ngo Van Khoa, about Vietnamese language and culture. Thuy

is a shining star of enlightenment about her native land.

As always, Jim Scott has been a constant source of encouragement. He

and Thomas Sikor made insightful comments on the book manuscript,

some of which I have been able to incorporate. One of the anonymous

readers for Cornell University Press gave particularly helpful suggestions

for sharpening the analysis. I subsequently learned that reader was David

Elliott and I can now thank him in print for his perceptive remarks.

I also thank Cornell University Press, especially Roger Haydon, for

taking an interest in the manuscript and efficiently seeing it through to

publication, and Karen Laun and Jane Marie Todd for their copyediting.

Many others have given me leads, shared their materials, or commented

on draft chapters. Foremost among them is Melinda Tria Kerkvliet, my

partner in research and other aspects of life and my best friend. Others

include David Boselie, Alasdair Bowie, David Elliott, Mai Elliott, Brian

Fegan, Martin Grossheim, Bertrand de Hartingh, John Kleinen, Erik

Kuhonta, Jonathan London, Ardeth Maung Thawnghmung, Ngo Vinh

Long, Shaun Malarney, Kim Ninh, Steve Seneque, John Sidel, Benoit de

Treglode, and Jayne Werner.

There's a saying in Vietnam: "As you eat the fruit, remember who planted

the tree" (an qua nho ke trong cay). Since I have long been eating the

fruit of knowledge and learning, I would like to remember my teachers.

With deep respect and gratitude, I dedicate this book to them.

BEN KERKVLIET

Canberra, A. C. T.

The Power of Everyday Politics

Blank Page