The government of mistrust : illegibility and bureaucratic power in socialist Vietnam / Ken MacLean.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

MacLean, Ken.

Series:

New perspectives in Southeast Asian studies.

New perspectives in Southeast Asian studies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Local government--State supervision--Vietnam.

Local government.

Regional planning--Social aspects--Vietnam.

Regional planning.

Rural development--Vietnam.

Rural development.

Bureaucracy--Vietnam.

Bureaucracy.

Vietnam--Rural conditions.

Vietnam.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (301 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Madison, Wisconsin : University of Wisconsin Press, 2013.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Focusing on the creation and misuse of government documents in Vietnam since the 1920s, The Government of Mistrust reveals how profoundly the dynamics of bureaucracy have affected Vietnamese efforts to build a socialist society. In examining the flurries of paperwork and directives that moved back and forth between high- and low-level officials, Ken MacLean underscores a paradox: in trying to gather accurate information about the realities of life in rural areas, and thus better govern from Hanoi, the Vietnamese central government employed strategies that actually made the state increasingly illegible to itself. MacLean exposes a falsified world existing largely on paper. As high-level officials attempted to execute centralized planning via decrees, procedures, questionnaires, and audits, low-level officials and peasants used their own strategies to solve local problems. To obtain hoped-for aid from the central government, locals overstated their needs and underreported the resources they actually possessed. Higher-ups attempted to re-establish centralized control and legibility by creating yet more bureaucratic procedures. Amidst the resulting mistrust and ambiguity, many low-level officials were able to engage in strategic action and tactical maneuvering that have shaped socialism in Vietnam in surprising ways.

Contents:

""Contents""; ""List of Illustrations""; ""Preface""; ""Acknowledgments""; ""Terminological Note""; ""Introduction""; ""Period I . The Pre-centralization of Documentation: Revolutionary Mobilization before Collectivization""; ""1. Call-and-Response Dialogues: Struggling to Convert Mistrust into Trust""; ""2. Field Reports: Confusing the Exemplary with the Deviant""; ""Period II. The Centralization of Documentation: Bureaucratic Professionalism following Collectivization""; ""Introduction: Conflicting Narratives: The Transition to State Socialism""

""3. Administrative Templates: Standardizing Vagueness""""4. Labor Contracts: Muddling Licit Practices with Illicit Ones""; ""5. Performance Audits: Identifying Known Unknowns""; ""Period III. The Para-centralization of Documentation: Socialist Marketization after Decollectivization""; ""Introduction: Mistaking Fact as Fiction and Fiction as Fact: The Transition out of State Socialism""; ""6. Village Conventions: Misportraying Private Interests as Public Ones""; ""Conclusion""; ""Appendix 1. The State Administrative Structure (2001)""

""Appendix 2. List of Contracting Experiments by Location, Type, and Date""""Notes""; ""References""; ""Index""

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780299295936

0299295931

OCLC:

864900303