Vietnamese struggles : a review of the first decade of communism in Vietnam : an honors thesis (HONRS 499)

Abstract

This discussion of Vietnam and its people is limited to four major aspects: the communist policy of re-education for the South Vietnamese after the Vietnam War; the social conditions of post-American War South Vietnam, especially Saigon; the policy of New Economic Zones initiated by the communist government; and the refugee exodus that followed. All events discussed have taken place in the decade following the 1972 evacuation of South Vietnam by American forces. This research paper outlines, chronotopically, the events that have helped shape Vietnam into an emerging nation through the words of Vietnamese and knowledgeable Westerners. The bulk of this project stems from my interest in the Vietnamese people after an excursion to Vietnam in 1997. The opening pages focus on my personal perceptions of the Vietnamese and their land in the years following the introduction of Doi Moi by the communist government.