Call for Papers: Vietnam Update 2006
From: Philip Taylor <Philip.Taylor@anu.edu.au>
Date: Mar 7, 2006 12:16 AM
Subject: [Vsg] Call for Papers: Vietnam Update 2006
Call for Papers: Vietnam Update 2006
Dilemmas in Difference: New Approaches to Ethnic Minorities in Vietnam
The Australian National University, Canberra, 23-24 November 2006
The Vietnam Update for 2006 addresses the topic of ethnic minorities in
Vietnam.
The organisers are now calling for papers that seek to make a significant
empirical and conceptual contribution to understanding minority ethnicities
in Vietnam. The signature theme of the conference is 'challenging
stereotypes'. This emphasis reflects our belief that untested assumptions,
a lack of solid research, and insufficient attention to the voices of
ethnic minority people, have flawed too much of the existing literature on
ethnic minorities in Vietnam. Having identified these problems, the 2006
Vietnam Update aims to provide a forum for a critical engagement between
old ideas and new research. To that end, we are seeking contributors who
want to make an informed, richly illustrated, and critical contribution to
our theme, in ways that have the potential to change knowledge about ethnic
minorities in Vietnam.
The organizers are interested in papers that address the following sets of
questions:
1. Officially Vietnam has 54 distinct national groups (dan toc). This
figure derives from a state classification project, whose history,
methodology and acceptance among the people it aims to classify is not yet
fully understood. How is ethnicity conceptualized in Vietnam? How is
minority ethnicity conceptualized? What alternative self-identifications
are espoused by different 'minority' peoples in Vietnam? Under what
conditions have these identities been accepted or contested? The terms
'ethnic minority' (dan toc thieu so) or 'indigenous people' (nguoi ban xu)
replace earlier terms such as moi, tho and thuong. Have these changes in
terminology been accompanied by significant changes in social relations and
attitudes between peoples?
2. It has often been assumed that there is a clear cut distinction between
different groups us/them, non Viet/Viet, etc. On what grounds are such
differences asserted? Are distinctions between groups given more importance
than those within groups, or commonalities among groups? The cultures of
ethnic minority peoples are sometimes depicted as in crisis, or as in
conflict with that of the cultural mainstream. How are such tensions
depicted by the people affected by them? What kinds of people, institutions
or modes of cultural practice mediate differences between groups? The
organisers are interested in papers that offer a new perspective on the
relations within or between ethnic groups.
3. Minority ethnicity in Vietnam is stereotypically associated with
'remote' or 'frontier' regions such as the uplands. This association shapes
ideas about the attributes and problems of ethnic minority people and about
the sources of ethnic difference. How valid is the perception of
remoteness? What changes in ethnic identifications and in people's lives
have occurred due to development projects, economic change or population
movements into or away from such regions? How about lowland and urban
peoples, such as the Hoa, the Cham and the Khmer? How can we account for
the apparent durability of ethnic boundaries in regions where people from
many different backgrounds live and work together?
4. Development reports note that poverty is common among ethnic minority
groups, who also are reported to have low living standards, a 'low
intellectual level' and 'backward' ways of making a living. These labels
conceal the great differences among Vietnam's ethnic groups, and a routine
use of such language may well tell us more about the analyst's assumptions
than about the ethnic groups themselves. The organizers are interested in
papers that give new insights into the social and economic conditions of
ethnic minority peoples. We also want to learn how ethnic minority people
define their own social circumstances and how they have responded to
initiatives to improve their living conditions. Contributors are encouraged
to critically evaluate past and present socio-economic development
indicators and programs, explore alternative criteria of well-being, adopt
new methodologies, or revisit issues such as poverty through the lens of a
different discipline.
5. In most treatments of the ethnic minorities in Vietnam, state agents and
state policies are normally considered to exercise a powerful influence.
What new light can be shed on the relationship between ethnic minorities
and the Vietnamese state? How monolithic is the state in its dealings with
ethnic minorities? For example, does the state treat all peoples the same
way? Do state agents all share the same assumptions? How are policies
towards ethnic minorities formulated? To what extent do state agencies
achieve their intended outcomes? How do ethnic minority people see the
state and state agencies? Based on ethnographic or historical research,
analysis of political institutions or texts, what refinements can be
brought to existing characterisations of the state's role in inter-ethnic
relations, such as oppression, internal colonialism, conflict, co-option,
harmonious coexistence, or dialogic negotiation?
6. What influential non-state nodes or agents represent, mediate for or act
as gatekeepers to ethnic minorities in Vietnam? What role is played by
foreign governments, international development organisations, NGOS,
co-operatives or domestic civil society groupings? What are the
intersections between private companies, commercial interests and ethnic
minorities? What role does the tourist industry play? To what extent do
ethnic groups identify with or seek to advance their interests through
religious associations, identities and affiliations? What kinds of
sub-national or transnational linkages and identifications are important
among ethnic minorities in Vietnam?
7. How is minority ethnicity represented? Ethnic minorities have been
presented in two contradictory images. On the one hand it is widely
believed in Vietnamese society that the ethnic minorities embody a way of
life that is unsuited to modern realities. On the other hand, their crafts,
legends and artistic forms are valued as authentic expressions of diverse
local traditions. Cultural performances featuring ethnic minorities are a
staple in the media and in festivals, commemorative occasions and tourist
destinations throughout the country. What is the message of these
portrayals and their variations? What do ethnic minority people think about
these mainstream images and representations? Do they accommodate or resist
them? Papers are invited that critically engage with dominant
representations and give voice to the perspectives of ethnic minority people.
Interested writers are invited to submit paper proposals on the above
themes. We do not expect each paper to address all the sets of questions
noted above. We would like, however, each paper to take up issues from more
than one of these sets. Papers can approach the issues in different ways;
we expect variety in this regard. Interdisciplinary approaches are
encouraged Contributions should endeavor to put the discussion in
comparative perspective.
Proposal Submission
Contributors should send their proposals and a one page CV to Li Tana by 15
April 2006.
Email: tana.li@anu.edu.au
Each proposal should be no longer than 600 words. The proposal should
outline how the paper relates to the issues highlighted in the above set of
questions and the kind of research the paper will be based on.
The conference organizers will then decide which proposals to accept. We
will then extend invitations to the authors of the selected proposals to
prepare and present their papers to the conference. The organizers also
reserve the right to solicit papers, if necessary, from individuals who did
not submit proposals.
Funding for travel and accommodation is available and details will be
discussed later with each paper presenter.
Paper Specifications
The paper itself should be submitted 30 days before the date of the
conference.
The paper should not exceed 10,000 words and it should include appropriate
bibliography and citations. Each paper should include an abstract of 200 words.
Presentation and Publication
We envisage about eight paper presentations during a one and a half day
workshop in Canberra in November 2006.
At the Update each author will have approximately 40 minutes to summarize
what her/his paper argues and the evidence used. The conference will also
have two other presentations about recent political and economic
developments in Vietnam. The full text of the paper may be included,
subject to any necessary revisions to meet publication requirements, in a
refereed book that we hope will be published within a year following the
conference.
Conference Organizers
For further information, please contact any of the following organizers:
Convener: Li Tana, Division of Pacific and Asian History, RSPAS, The
Australian National University. Email: tana.li@anu.edu.au
Russell Heng, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore. Email:
russell@mail.iseas.edu.sg
Ben Kerkvliet, Dept. of Political and Social Change, RSPAS, The Australian
National University. Email: ben.kerkvliet@anu.edu.au
David Koh, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore. Email:
davidkoh@iseas.edu.sg
David Marr, Division of Pacific and Asian History, RSPAS, The Australian
National University. Email: dgm405@coombs.anu.edu.au
Philip Taylor, Dept. of Anthropology, RSPAS, The Australian National
University. Email: philip.taylor@anu.edu.au
Philip Taylor
Department of Anthropology
Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies
The Australian National University
Canberra ACT 0200
Phone: +61-2-612 52300
Email: philip.taylor@anu.edu.au
From: Philip Taylor <philip.taylor@anu.edu.au>
Date: May 25, 2006 5:39 PM
Subject: [Vsg] 2006 Vietnam Update: Ethnic Minorities
Dear List,
I would like to announce the list of confirmed speakers and topics for the
2006 Vietnam Update, 'Dilemmas in Difference: New Approaches to Ethnic
Minorities in Vietnam'
http://rspas.anu.edu.au/polsoc/Vietnam//2006_conf.php
The Update will be held on 23-24 November, 2006 at the Australian National
University, Canberra.
The conference will open with two papers on the key political and economic
developments in Vietnam over the last year. The remainder of the Update
will consist of eleven presentations devoted to the conference theme. The
speakers are authorities on ethnic minorities in Vietnam and they will
present their original findings based on recent research. Papers will be
followed by questions and open discussion.
Confirmed Presenters and Proposed Topics
David Koh (Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore)
Recent Political Developments in Vietnam
Duong Bich Hanh (University of Washington)
Local Places, Global Trajectories: New Lives of the Hmong Girls of Sa Pa
Le Minh Giang and Nguyen Quang Phuong (Columbia University, New York)
Constructing Manhood in the Ho Chi Minh Highway: Experiences of Young Men
of Two Ethnic Groups
Jean Michaud and Sarah Turner (University of Montreal, McGill University,
Canada)
Imaginative, Adapted, and Transnational Economic Strategies for Marginal
Actors in a Centralised State: The Hmong and Yao (Dao) in Lao Cai
Province, Northern Vietnam
Li Tana (Australian National University)
Transnational Economic Networks of the Hoa in Vietnam
Nguyen Van Chinh (College of Social Sciences & Humanities, Hanoi)
Sedentarization, Adaptation, and Marginalization: A Study of State
Intervention and Socio-Economic Change among the Kmhmu of Vietnam
Pamela McElwee (Arizona State University)
'Blood Relatives' or Uneasy Neighbors?: Kinh - Ethnic Minority
Interactions in the Annamite Mountains
Stan Tan and Andrew Walker (National University of Singapore, Australian
National University)
Beyond Hills and Plains: Rethinking Ethnic Relations in Vietnam and Thailand
Phan Ngoc Chien (Institute of Social Sciences, Ho Chi Minh City)
Theory and Practice of Ethnic Identification in Vietnam
Frank Proschan (Smithsonian Institution, Washington)
Cultural Self-Representation and Imagining Vietnam's Ethnicities: The
Revolutionary Work of the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology
Philip Taylor (Australian National University)
Histories of the Present and Cultural Revival among the Khmer of the
Mekong Delta
Oscar Salemink (Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam)
Embodying the Nation: Mediumship, Ritual, and the National Imagination
Details about the program and further information about the papers and
presenters will be made available closer to the conference date.
To register for the 2006 Vietnam Update go to the online registration form:
http://rspas.anu.edu.au/polsoc/Vietnam//2006_conf.php
For further information about the program, please contact the Convener:
Dr Li Tana, Division of Pacific and Asian History, RSPAS
Email: Dr Li Tana
For information about registration or other matters, please contact:
Ms Lyn Ning, Political and Social Change, RSPAS
Email: psc@anu.edu.au
The organisers look forward to seeing you at the Update in Canberra this
November.
Best Regards,