Priscilla Koh -- Persistent Ambiguities: Vietnamese Ethnology in the Doi Moi Period (1986 -2001)

From the time ethnology was established as a field in Vietnam, one of its key tasks has been to foster and maintain national unity, while at the same time preserving and developing 'ethnic distinctiveness' and diversity. During the first thirty years of ethnology's development, the focus of ethnographic endeavours was to incorporate the different ethnic groups into the national whole, so as to develop and promote an ethnicity, history and culture which emphasized the 'national' and 'unified' nature of Vietnam's diverse ethnic components. Ethnographic research has traditionally tended to focus on three areas: ethnic classification, minority history and culture. This began to change in the doi moi era, as more attention has been given to socioeconomic development issues.