Description
Book SynopsisChina, Laos, and Vietnam are three of a handful of late socialist countries where capitalist economics rubs up against party-state politics. In these countries, sweeping processes of change open up new vistas of opportunity and imaginaries of the future alongside much uncertainty and anxiety, especially for their large rural populations. Contributors to this edited volume demonstrate the diverse ways in which rural people build futures in this unique policy landscape and how their aspirations and desires are articulated as projects involving both citizens and the state. This produces a politics of development that happens through and around the state as people navigate discourses of betterment to imagine and make new futures at individual and collective levels.
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements List of illustrations Notes on Contributors 1 Rural Life in Late Socialism: Politics of Development and Imaginaries of the Future Phill Wilcox, Jonathan Rigg and Minh Nguyen 2 Risk Perception and Lowland Rice Farming Change in Savannakhet Province, Southern Laos Ian G. Baird, Santi Piyadeth and Chanthavisouk Ninchaluene 3 Hmong Christianisation, the Will to Improve and the Question of Neoliberalism in Vietnam’s Highlands Seb Rumsby 4 Staying or Moving Government Compliance in Post-Zomian Laos Guido Sprenger 5 Good Baby, Good Life Exploring a New Akha Way of Life Free from Abnormal Birth Ruijing Wang 6 Single Mothers’ Livelihoods in Rural North Central Vietnam: Struggles for a Good Life Tuan Anh Nguyen, Cam Ly Thi Vo and Binh Minh Thi Vu 7 Rural Schooling and a Good Life in Late Socialist Laos: Articulations, Sketches and Moments of Good Time Roy Huijsmans and Mr Piti 8 Translocal Households and Family Visions in Contemporary Vietnam: A Neoliberal Shift? Hy V. Luong 9 Making a Good Life by Building a Good House: A Case Study of Baikou New Village in Southeastern China Lan Wei 10 A Good Life Postponed: Working in the Countryside, Retiring in the City in Contemporary China Catrina Schwendener 11 Tradition, Habitat, and Well-Being: Polygamous Marriage in a Tibetan Village Li Zhi-nong and He Shu-qing Index
