Vietnamese Policy Research Articles

Hegemony and the politics of policy making for education for sustainable development: A case study of Vietnam

ABSTRACTAssumptions are readily made about the global nature and discourse of education for sustainable development. This study challenges assumptions made about structural power as expressed through Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) policy and politics of education. Focusing on the concept of sustainable development (SD) and ESD, the research examined the culturally contextualized question: How should we understand the relationship between these policy concepts, structural power, hegemony and the hegemonic discourses that articulate them? A case analysis of the political and educational history of Vietnam is used to highlight how assumptions on the hegemonic potential of SD and ESD may or may not be appropriate, or adequate, for understanding that relationship at the depth required for critical purposes. The findings of a discourse analysis of relevant policy documents suggests the meanings of these concepts are not fully determined and cannot be seen as expressions of a determinable overall state of power relations or hegemony. Instead, they are suggestive of the limits of hegemonic power and allow for the emergence of a space of contestation. This space is at play in the political contestation of the meaning of SD and ESD in Vietnamese policy.

Losing traction and the art of slip-sliding away: Or, getting over education for sustainable development

ABSTRACTThis response problematizes Stefan Bengtsson's (2016) defense of education for sustainable development. He argues that sustainable development and education for sustainable development are not globalizing and hegemonic discourses, as some have claimed, and uses case-study analysis of Vietnamese policy documents to support his claims. He observes contestation and dissensus within these documents, and that, for him, is at odds with his conceptions of hegemony and paradigmatic status. He also suggests that this dissensus provides openings for opposition and resistance. I argue, on the contrary, that disagreement, dissent, anomalies, and counter-hegemonic forces have always been part of hegemonic struggles and paradigmatic states—and shifts. Bengtsson and I do agree about the importance of dissensus and resistance; however, important choices remain to be made about what concepts and contexts of dissensus are most educationally valuable. For example, I show that Bengtsson's Vietnamese policy data suggests that although dissensus exists, sustainable development and education for sustainable development have had little impact in generating counter-hegemonic discourse, resistance, anomalous responses, or creative alternatives in the environmental and social policy. Based on the data, sustainable development does not seem to have much traction. I argue that a useful approach would be to focus on understandings currently absent or underrepresented in contemporary education. Particularly important are the understandings required to think differently and to become different beings. Throughout, attention has been given to developing educational experiences that arise that shift the way learners carry themselves in the world, enact their etiquette, and broaden their ontological positioning, and commensurate understandings.

Of big hegemonies and little tigers: Ecocentrism and environmental justice

ABSTRACTStefan Bengtsson's commentary about policy hegemony discusses the alternative discourses of socialism, nationalism, and globalism. However, Stefan does not adequately demonstrate how these discourses can overcome the Dominant Western Worldview (DWW), which is imbued with anthropocentrism. It will be argued here that most policy choices promoting sustainability, and education for it, are made within a predetermined system in which the already limiting notion of environmental protection is highly contingent on human welfare. What would really contest the dominant assumptions of Vietnamese policy and, more specifically, education for sustainable development (ESD) is an alternative discourse that challenges the DWW. That alternative discourse embraces philosophical ecocentrism and practices of ecological justice between all species, and deep ecology theory - all perspectives fundamentally committed to environmental protection.

Integrating pedagogy into intercultural teaching in a Vietnamese setting: From policy to the classroom

AbstractLanguage education policy needs to be realised in the language classroom. For example, when a specific policy advocates the development of learners’ competence in interacting with people from other cultures, classroom teaching practices and assessment have to address learners’ intercultural competence. Teachers need to fully understand the relevant policy and to be supported in translating it into their classes. This paper examines the current foreign language education policy and the addressing of culture in EFL teaching practices in a Vietnamese context. The study involved 15 Vietnamese EFL teachers from a university in Northern Vietnam as participants. I collected data from semi-structured interviews with each of these teachers, observed each of them twice in their classroom teaching, collected copies of their teaching materials they used in these classes, as well as government documents concerning the current policy. The study found that though the current Vietnamese policy advocates the teach...

What motivates Vietnam to strive for a low-carbon economy? — On the drivers of climate policy in a developing country

Though climate change is an urgent problem especially for vulnerable developing countries, international negotiations are in a gridlock. Standard game-theoretic models that describe climate change mitigation as a public good problem predict few incentives for individual countries to act. Nevertheless – despite the absence of a globally binding agreement – we can observe some developing countries launching unilateral climate policies. Being one of th\\ose, Vietnam has recently announced to strive for a low-carbon economy. Based on interviews with Vietnamese policy makers and other stakeholders, this explorative case study examines Vietnam's motivation for a policy change that has shifted from emphasizing the responsibilities of developed countries for climate change towards accepting responsibility of developing countries to also reduce their emissions. While Vietnam's high vulnerability has contributed to put climate on the political agenda, the policy shift from a pure adaptation towards a mitigation focus was mainly driven by expected multiple climate policy benefits other than climate change abatement (so-called co-benefits). These include restructuring of the economy, addressing energy security concerns and accessing international finance to counteract a phase-out of conventional development assistance. Air quality considerations, by contrast, do not seem to play a major role for Vietnam's shift in climate policy.

Evolution of Australian policy to Vietnam

The relationship between Vietnam and Australia more and more obviously reveals the beneficiality stemming from the demands and capabilities of the two countries. Both positioned in the valley of the Pacific Ocean, the potential and growth of their relationship remains strong in a world of increasingly global and regional reunion and linkage. Optimizing the beneficiality and most effectively exploiting the potential of both countries in their relationship depend on many factors among which total scientific acknowledgement and appreciation of historical process of the relationship are extremely necessary. When does it originate the Australian policy to Vietnam? Which historical epics has it undergone? What is its evolutionary process? And the like? The answers to these questions are the main contents of this paper. The Vietnamese policy to Australia must be set up on the foundation of proper appreciation of this country’s policy to Vietnam and of total perception on the position of Vietnam toward it, on Vietnam’s benefits and exploiting methods in the relationship with this biggest country in Southern Pacific Ocean, etc.

Identifying the Public Administration Reform Performance through the Lens of Provincial Competitiveness Index and GDP Per Capita in Vietnam

This study was conducted to test the hypothesis of whether the public administration reform (PAR) and provincial competitiveness could be causally linked to the GDP welfare per capita in Vietnam. By adopting the factor analysis and then the natural logarithm linear regression, the author found out that there were causality linkages between those above mentioned parameters. Namely, legal institutions were the main huddles for GDP per head, while public administration reform services and public services delivery exert positive impacts on GDP per capita. The dynamism of provincial leadership was also positively influential to the GDP outcome for Vietnamese citizens. Conclusions and recommendations were drawn for Vietnamese policy makers to modernize the public administration reform process.

US macroeconomic news spillover effects on Vietnamese stock market

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the spillover effect of the US macroeconomic news on the first two moments of the Vietnamese stock market returns.Design/methodology/approachThe author collected market expectation and actual announcements data for 12 key US macroeconomic announcements for the period from August 2000 to September 2009 from Bloomberg. The dataset consists of monthly Non‐farm payroll (NFPM), Unemployment level (UNEMP), Gross Domestic Product percentage level (GDP), Housing statistics (HOMEST), Industrial production (INDP), Leading Indicator (LEAD), Retail Sales (SALES), Consumer Price Index (CPI), Producer Index (PPI), Current Account (CA, quarterly), Trade Balance (BOT), and the Federal Reserve's target rates (FOMC, 8 times a year and ad hoc meetings if needed). The MA‐EGARCH (1,1) model is used for the empirical test of the US macroeconomic news spillover effects on the VNI index.FindingsIn general, the US real economic news has the strongest effect on the first two moments of the Vietnamese stock returns. This can be interpreted as evidence that Vietnamese market participants believe that the USA is targeting real economic activities other than other variables. It is also shown that even though the US stock market (proxied by S&P500 index) significantly affects the Vietnamese stock market returns, the spillover effect of the US macroeconomic news is still significant.Research limitations/implicationsThe author does not explore further on the transmission channels of the spillover effects of the US news on the Vietnamese stock market, reserving this task for future research.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to the extant literature in several ways. First, to the author's knowledge, the current literature lacks empirical evidence for the impact of the US macroeconomic news on the first two moments of the Vietnamese stock markets. Given the growing integration between the two economies, evidenced by the fact that the USA is Vietnam's largest foreign direct investor and importer, the US macroeconomic news is very important, not only for Vietnamese policy makers but also for market participants. Furthermore, the choice of a small and open market with increasing exposure to the world economy and vulnerable to the US news (i.e. Vietnam) would help in reducing the problem of endogeneity bias in previous studies employing large economy pairs, as the US news might affect the Vietnamese stock market but not the reverse. Finally, previous studies tend to investigate the impact of macro news only on conditional returns. In this study, both conditional returns and the conditional variance of returns are modelled simultaneously in a time‐varying framework (MA‐GARCH) to better capture the impact of macroeconomic news on stock returns and stock market volatility.

Ханой: курс на «социализм с вьетнамским лицом»

The author gives a broad picture of the current situation in Vietnam. The country implements a new phase of reforms started by the XIth Congress of the ruling Communist Party in January 2011. The great achievements of 25 years of Vietnamese policy of openness and renovation and the main challenges the country faces now are analyzed. The specific ways of building the “socialism with a Vietnamese face” are distinguished.

REDD+ politics in the media: a case study from Vietnam

Reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD+) is an international effort to create financial value for the carbon stored in forests, offering incentives for developing countries to reduce emissions from land uses. Vietnam is engaged in the international REDD+ debate and is a partner to numerous multi- and bilateral agreements. Different actors have diverse interests in the REDD+ agenda, and in Vietnam, even though an authoritarian state, different views exist on what REDD+ should achieve. Through the analysis of media articles this study intends to understand how public debates on REDD+ are framed in the Vietnamese policy domain and how actors use the media to promote their interests. Reporting about a diversity of actors and interests, in particular related to expressions of equity concerns in media frames could reflect a growing inclusive political space. Our findings show that while state actors dominate REDD+ media frames, some limited space is present for non-state actors' interests, but equity issue discussed still reflect predominantly state mediated concerns. However, caution is still required due to the limitations these findings come with.

Foreign Direct Investment in Vietnam: Is There Any Evidence of Technological Spillover Effects

In the context of integrating more deeply into the world economy the Vietnamese policy makers have undertaken several measures to attract foreign direct investment to the country, with the culmination of FDI inflows in 2007 reaching over USD 20 billion, an increase of 69% over 2006. The policy has been taken on the ground that the FDI inflows will create employment and bring along the much needed technological advances, which will spill over to domestic firms. In this paper, we use a firm-level panel data constructed from the Census 2000-2005 to investigate not only the horizontal spillovers but also the backward and forward linkages. Adding to the current literature which focused mainly on the spillovers in the manufacturing sector, our paper provide the first estimates of the spillover effects in the service sector (at least in the context of developing countries). We also distinguish between the horizontal output spillovers (which capture demonstration effects and competition effects) and the horizontal employment spillover (which captures the labour mobility effect). The results obtained from our regression models are mixed. Different channels of spillovers are at work for the manufacturing and the service sectors. We find evidence of the positive backward technological spillovers for the manufacturing and positive horizontal spillovers for the service sector.

Barriers to access prevention of mother-to-child transmission for HIV positive women in a well-resourced setting in Vietnam

BackgroundAccording to Vietnamese policy, HIV-infected women should have access at least to HIV testing and Nevirapine prophylaxis, or where available, to adequate counselling, HIV infection staging, ARV prophylaxis, and infant formula. Many studies in high HIV prevalence settings have reported low coverage of PMTCT services, but there have been few reports from low HIV prevalence settings, such as Asian countries. We investigated the access of HIV-infected pregnant women to PMTCT services in the well-resourced setting of the capital city, Hanoi.MethodsFifty-two HIV positive women enrolled in a self-help group in Hanoi were consulted, through in-depth interviews and bi-weekly meetings, about their experiences in accessing PMTCT services.ResultsOnly 44% and 20% of the women had received minimal and comprehensive PMTCT services, respectively. Nine women did not receive any services. Twenty-two women received no counselling. The women reported being limited by lack of knowledge and information due to poor counselling, gaps in PMTCT services, and fear of stigma and discrimination. HIV testing was done too late for optimal interventions and poor quality of care by health staff was frequently mentioned.ConclusionIn a setting where PMTCT is available, HIV-infected women and children did not receive adequate care because of barriers to accessing those services. The results suggest key improvements would be improving quality of counselling and making PMTCT guidelines available to health services. Women should receive early HIV testing with adequate counselling, safe care and prophylaxis in a positive atmosphere towards HIV-infected women.

Vietnamese foreign policy in transition

Vietnamese foreign policy in transition

Vietnam´s Objective in the South China Sea: National or Regional Security?

Vietnam's interests in the South China Sea may be divided into traditional national security interests, and interests linked to the broader category of human security. This article examines Vietnam's policy in the South China Sea and its use of the Law of the Sea. Vietnam has doggedly upheld its claim to the whole of the Paracel and Spratly areas (Hoang Sa and Truong Sa) and has spent considerable resources in modernizing its naval and air forces. However, there seems to be a move away from a narrow focus on national security to a more broad-based concern for human security. This is connected with a trend towards a greater regional, less nationalist approach, which may give Vietnam a key role in resolving the multiple disputes in the South China Sea. Introduction The disputes in the South China Sea form a permanent threat to Vietnam's national security, to its full integration with the rest of ASEAN, and to farther improvement of its relationship with China. [1] The disputes also threaten regional security and the interests of the populations around the South China Sea, who need to be protected against typhoons, floods, pollution, depletion of fish stocks, piracy, and war. The manner in which Hanoi handles the situation in the South China Sea may have a significant impact on the living conditions of the Vietnamese, and for their country's regional role. Vietnam's aims in the South China Sea may be divided into traditional national security concerns, and aims linked to the broader category of human and regional security. Under the first category are aims such as defending the long S-shaped coast against invasion, defending the sovereignty of the Paracels (Hoang Sa) and the Spratlys (Truong Sa), gaining exclusive control of resources on and under Vietnam's continental shelf, as well as living resources in the sea out to 200 nautical miles, collecting customs duties, and suppressing smuggling, piracy and other illegal activities within Vietnam's 12-nautical mile territorial waters. [2] As long as no formal agreements have been reached on the delimitation of maritime boundaries, attempts to pursue these aims tend to generate conflict between Vietnam and the other nations around the South China Sea. Under the second category are aims such as defending the population against typhoons, protecting mangrove swamps, securing fish stocks for future generations, halting the destruction of coral reefs, preventing pollution, facing the eventuality of major oil spills, building modern and secure ports, maintaining open communications securing regional peace, attracting serious oil companies to explore for oil and gas, and facilitating international trade and investments. These aims entail a need for regional and international co-operation. The means in pursuit of the traditional national security interests are not necessarily effective in achieving human and regional security. National security may be pursued by maintaining considerable military capabilities, entering into alliances with other powers, and conducting nationalistic propaganda domestically and internationally. These means are costly and can lead to a deterioration in relations with neighbouring states, thus endangering human security. In pursuing human security for its population, the Vietnamese Government is finding other means more useful, such as bilateral and multilateral diplomacy, international co-operation in resource management and environmental protection, and activities to further develop an internationally recognized legal regime, on the basis of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). UNCLOS was signed in 1982 and entered into force in November 1994, one year after the sixtieth state had ratified it. This article will test the hypothesis that there is a gradual movement in Vietnamese policy away from a narrow focus on national security to a more broad-based concern for human security. …

Vietnam's One-or-Two-Child Policy in Action

VIETNAM FORMALLY INTRODUCED in late 1988 a comprehensive fertility policy encouraging parents to have no more than two children. Billboards that advertise the official family-size goal of or two children (mot hoac hai con) are now ubiquitous in much of the country. Like its more severe onechild counterpart in China, the Vietnamese policy was formulated to stem the current rapid growth in population that, it is feared, may derail national development plans. Such plans are ambitious, yet the mood of cautious optimism for the future may be justified. After almost four decades of continuous social, military, and political upheavals that led the country to the brink of mass starvation in the early 1980s, Vietnam has made a phoenix-like recovery. As in China and the former Soviet Union, Vietnam recently began to institute an official program of agricultural decollectivization and free-market reforms (Doi Moi). Peasants have responded so positively to these reforms that Vietnam is now the third largest exporter of rice next to Thailand and the United States, despite its being one of the most densely populated countries in the world. The US-led economic embargo ended in 1994, and the World Bank and other institutions are now contributing to a variety of development projects. Nevertheless, building an effective infrastructure will require several decades. With annual population growth exceeding 2 percent in a country with over 72 million people and with both unemployment and income disparities growing in the wake of recent reforms, some observers fear that unchecked fertility will contribute to the long-term perpetuation of poverty as well as to environmental degradation (Le and Rambo 1993). To date, there has been no attempt to examine the implementation of the Vietnamese fertility policy nor the popular response to it. The reason for this is simple. Existing data sources have been limited and restrictions on access to rural areas, where about 80 percent of Vietnamese live, have precluded assessment of this policy with the same rigor that has been applied to China's one-child initiative. Assessments of China's policy have addressed the following issues: its historical background (Tien 1991); its

Laos The Vietnamese Connection

For the last thirty years, the course of the Lao revolution has been closely tied to events in Vietnam. As Lao Prime Minister and Secretary General of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP), Kaysone Phomvihan, has on more than one occasion explicitly recognized, Vietnamese aid and advice have been deeply influential in bringing the present r?gime to power in Laos. These close ties were formalized in the Lao-Vietnamese Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation signed in July 1977, which has since provided not only directions for Lao foreign policy, but also the basis for Vietnamese involvement at all levels of Lao political and economic life. Throughout 1979, a constant flow of delegations on everything from agricultural co-operatives to public works construction moved between the two countries. Following the formation of the Lao Front for National Construction, a delegation of the Vietnamese Fatherland Front visited Laos. Vietnamese provincial delegations toured Namtha and Oudomxay provinces in June and October, as part of Vietnamese moves to supplant Chinese influence in northern Laos after the Chinese road gangs had been withdrawn. The close relationship with Vietnam, while of benefit to the present Lao r?gime, is also of considerable importance to Hanoi. From the Vietnamese point of view, it has always been essential that the country's long and vulnerable western border be adequately protected by the presence of friendly forces in Laos. But while the relationship may have been mutually beneficial, it has never been an equal one. On the diplomatic front, Vientiane's client relationship with Hanoi was evident in the support Laos provided for every Vietnamese policy statement from the justice of Hanoi's points for negotiation with Beijing (Peking) to the Vietnamese position on the refugee question. No attempt was discernible to forge Lao policies which differed from those of Vietnam, except in the special case of Thailand where that was in Hanoi's best interests. Vietnamese perceptions of their country's security and national interests have formed the parameters which have limited the independence of decision-making of the LPRP. Nowhere has this been m?re evident than when the security of Vietnam was believed by the leadership in Hanoi to rest upon decisions by their Lao comrades. At such times Lao freedom of action has been severely curtailed, to the point where decisions taken may not always have been in the best interests of the LPRP (as opposed to the ruling ?lite within the party), the Lao people, or the welfare and security of the nation. Nineteen seventy-nine was arguably such a time for, by taking sides with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV) in its dispute with the People's Republic of China (PRC), the Lao leadership may well have placed the long term security of their country and even of their regime in jeopardy. As Vietnamese relations with the Pol Pot Government in Kampuchea continued to deteriorate during the course of 1978, so too did Hanoi's relations with Beijing. The Vietnamese leaders were well aware that their fateful decision to invade Kampuchea, made as early as mid 1978, would greatly exacerbate the situation. They turned, therefore, to the Soviet Union: a Treaty of Friendship was signed between the SRV and

Can Bureaucracies Be Rational Actors? Foreign Policy Decision-Making in North Vietnam

This research provides one basis for more comparative study of governmental decision-making. It examines North Vietnamese foreign policy decision-making during 1972 and 1973, using event data for source information, and is placed in the context of Allison's (1971) rational actor and bureaucratic politics models. The rational actor analysis is used to identify North Vietnamese foreign policy goals and policy alternatives and possible decision strategies for interactions vis-à-vis the United States. No one decision strategy appears to correspond fully with North Vietnamese behavior, and in fact there appears to be a switch in strategies during the analysis period. The bureaucratic politics analysis is employed to identify the source of this switch and the reasons for its occurrence during 1972. That analysis suggests that the military began to support a negotiated settlement with the United States during 1972 to strengthen its bureaucratic position among North Vietnamese policy makers.