The state of the social sciences in Vietnam

Abstract

On the side of a building in Hanoi, in bold red letters, are the words Ve Sinh La Yeu Nuoc, which can translate as “To be hygenic is to love your country.” I think that slogan tells us a lot about contemporary Vietnam. First of all, it demonstrates how patriotic imagery, so crucial to success over French colonialists and American imperialists, is still being given top emphasis in the post-1975 era of reconstruction and of development toward a modern socialist economy. The same sort of slogans can be found urging citizens to diversify crops, to improve factory management, to expand exports or even to heighten archaeological research.