Overview of Vietnamese Village Studies

Abstract

This article reviews the research process and results of Vietnamese village studies to date. A large number of books, project reports, theses and dissertations, utilizing different approaches and research methods, have provided an in-depth analysis of the challenges of traditional villages and their transformation in modern society. The study results confirm that a village is a residential unit, a social unit, and maintains a collective structure. Villages vary by region, environmental landscape, time of formation, economic base, and socio-cultural characteristics; a village shows its socio-economic and cultural characteristics based on the “common form”. The village has a sense of community, independence, autonomy, and high self-management, but it is affected by state policies. This article also points out the limitations of the present Vietnamese village studies