Agent Orange and Rural Development in Post-war Vietnam (Routledge Contemporary Southeast Asia Series)

Vu tells the story of Vietnamese farmers who have survived a 30-year war of independence and unification, its damaging legacies in their living environment, and the unfamiliar pressure of the market economy. Vietnamese famers are neither simply obedient beneficiaries of policy decisions made by higher authorities nor convention-ridden cyphers. Rather, they are sophisticated decision-makers capable of navigating the changes threatening to disrupt their lives over multiple generations. Vu’s research pays particular attention to those farmers whose families have suffered from direct and indirect exposure to the toxic herbicides popularly known as Agent Orange. She demonstrates that their priority has tended to be the protection of their existing assets, rather than pursuing the promise of new riches, and that this tendency has helped them maintain stability in a turbulent economic environment. A fascinating study for scholars of Vietnamese anthropology and society, the book will also be of interest to sociologists and economists with a broader interest in the impact of economic and political change on rural lifestyles. Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents List of Figures 4.1 Economic Structure (%) of Binh Dinh 2000–2010 5.1 Gains and Losses in Health and Wealth 7.1 Diminishing Sensitivity for Gains and Losses in Prospect Theory 7.2 Health Experts’ Losses and Gains 7.3 AO Families’ Losses and Gains 7.4 Gains and Losses in Health and Wealth List of Tables 1.1 National/Rural Widening Income Disparity in Lower Mekong Region for the Decade of Rapid Economic Development 2.1 Macroeconomic Performance of Post-Doi Moi Vietnam 2.2 Agricultural Sector in Vietnam: Basic Data 2.3 Growth of Output: Planned and Actual Results, Vietnam, 1976–1980 (Annual % Increase) 2.4 Regional Disparities in Rice Production, 1988 2.5 Development Indicators of Vietnam 2.6-1 Labour Exchange Groups in Northern Vietnam, 1955–1960 2.6-2 Agricultural Cooperatives in Northern Vietnam, 1955–1960 2.7 Proportion of Northern Vietnam Farming Households (%) in the Agricultural Cooperatives, 1976–1981 2.8 Collectivization of Agriculture in the South (%), 1978–1980 2.9 Land-Use Rights and Size of Landholding among Selected Farmers with the Cashew Nut Growing Operation 2.10 Statistical Data on the Chemicals Used in Different Regions of Vietnam (1999) 3.1 Basic Statistics of the Three Research Sites as of 2006 3.2 Size of the Agent Orange Victims’ Families 3.3 Average Age of AO Families’ Head 3.4 Sources of Income (in Order of Relative Weight) 3.5 Basic Profiles of the Three Areas and Medical Services 3.6 Debt Situation (No. of Families) 3.7 Effect of Birth Defects (Number of Children after the first Disabled Child) 3.8 Effect of Birth Defects (Number of Children after the Second Disabled Child) 3.9 An Outline Reinforced Scientific Evidence vs. Actual Uses of Dioxin through the 1970s 3.10 United States’ Use of Herbicides During the Vietnam War(in m[sup(3) ]= 10[sup(3) ] L) 4.1 Binh Dinh: Facts and Figures 4.2 Sample of the Size of Landholding among Selected Farmers in the Mountains 4.3 Rice Production by Selected Farmers 4.4 Cashew Nut Production in Nui Ba Mountains 5.1 Birth Spacing after the First Child, Year (Healthy and Disabled) 6.1 Health Services in Thanh Khe and Phu Cat 7.1 Kahneman’s Decision Weights 8.1 Sources of Total Health Expenditure in 2007 8.2 Choices Acknowledgements Introduction: Agent Orange, Rural Development, and Enduring Farmers Part I: Rural Life in Changing Vietnam 1 Transformation of Vietnam and its Farmers 2 Development, Agriculture, and Farmers 3 Agent Orange and its Impact on Vietnamese Farmers: a Distant Legacy 4 Farmers in Post-Doi Moi Vietnam Part II: Farmer’s Choices and Behaviour 5 Health and Elusive Risks 6 Health and the Farmers: Whose Responsibility Counts? 7 Farmers’ Logic: Loss Aversion 8 Seed for Action, Seed for Change Bibliography Index "Vu tells the story of Vietnamese farmers who have survived a 30-year war of independence and unification, its damaging legacies in their living environment, and the unfamiliar pressure of the market economy. Vietnamese famers are neither simply obedient beneficiaries of policy decisions made by higher authorities, nor convention-ridden cyphers. Rather, they are sophisticated decision-makers capable of navigating the changes threatening to disrupt their lives over multiple generations. Vu's research pays particular attention to those farmers whose families have suffered from direct and indirect exposure to the toxic herbicides popularly known as Agent Orange. She demonstrates that their priority has tended to be the protection of their existing assets, rather than pursuing the promise of new riches, and that this tendency has helped them maintain stability in a turbulent economic environment. A fascinating study for scholars of Vietnamese anthropology and society, that will also be of interest to sociologists and economists with a broader interest in the impact of economic change on rural lifestyles"-- Provided by publisher