State–society relations in contemporary Vietnam: An examination of the arena of youth

Abstract

Abstract: This paper offers an analysis of the relations between youth and the socialist state in contemporary Vietnam, which sheds light on the wider state–society relations. Amid rapid social changes brought about by economic liberalisation, the Vietnamese Communist Party and socialist state may no longer be the sole driving force that motivates young people. As they seek to be both in control of and in touch with youth, the leaders of the Party and state find themselves negotiating between maintaining their ideological integrity and accommodating the changing needs and desires of youth. An analysis of recent events demonstrates that youth are no longer merely a subject of political propaganda and mass mobilisation, but instead they have evolved to become an important social actor urging the leadership to further reform itself. As young people express a desire to embrace socioeconomic and cultural changes wrought by processes of marketisation and globalisation, the Party and state are actively reforming themselves not only to respond to young people’s desires and aspirations, but also to strengthen their political authority and leadership, and to consolidate their control and management of youth amid the new conditions of a market‐oriented society. Overall, this paper sheds light on the changes in what is considered to be the ‘strategic’ relationship between the state and youth, and the wider process of sociopolitical transformation in present‐day Vietnam.