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Bell & Howell Information and Learning
300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA
by
Bernard Henry H enin
A Thesis Subm itted in Partial F ulfillm ent of the R equirem ent for the Degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in the D epartm ent of Geography
We accept this thesis as conform ing to the,râduÿ*ed standard
Dr. M. FlahertvrSttpervisoj^fD epartm ent of Geography)
Dr. Philip D e'ardem D epartm ental M em ber (D epartm ent of Geography)
Dr. Larry Mc^Jann, D epartm enU l M em ber (D epartm ent of Geography)
Dr. M argot W ilson-M oore, O utside M em ber (D epartm ent of A nthropology)
_____________________________________
Dr. Terry McGee, ^xjiefnal Exam iner (U niversity of British Columbia)
© B E R N A R D H E N R Y H E N I N , 1999 U niversity of Victoria
All rights reserved. Thesis may n o t be reproduced in w hole or part, by photocopy or other m eans, w ith o u t the perm ission of the author.
ABSTRACT
V ietnam 's econom ic ren o v a tio n program m e {doi moi ) has ushered in an era of m ajor social and econom ic transform ation. Since 1986, w hen the reform s were initiated, ru ral d ev elo p m en t in V ietnam has assum ed new m eanings, new form s of im p lem en tatio n , and new directions of planning. Central planning policies, once the hallm ark of this socialist society, have been progressively abandoned in favour of free m arkets and a liberal dev elo p m en t philosophy. In agriculture, a series of econom ic and land reform s h av e officially reinstalled the family farm as the prim ary u n it of production. The results have been generally positive. All macro- econom ic indicators point to general grow th and im p ro v ed standards of living in m u ch of ru ral V ietnam . A gricultural production has increased to the po in t that V ietnam is now one of the w orld's leading exporters of rice. Average incom es in u rb an and ru ral areas have im proved. Poverty has declined in m ost of the country's population.
At the regional level, how ever, research has show n that progress has been u n ev en . The gap in social and econom ic conditions is growing w ithin and am ong regions. Poverty rem ains entrenched in disadvantaged sectors of the rural population. The grow th of the m arket econom y in V ietnam has been generally accom panied w ith a decline of state in v estm en t in ru ral areas. At the sam e time, the country's hierarchical political structure continues to favour top-dow n planning, offering little pro v isio n for local in p u t in econom ic and political decisions. This has ham pered the developm ent in m any ethnic m inority farm ing c o m m u n ities in rem ote areas.
This study addresses the consequences of com m ercialization and m o d ern izatio n of agriculture on ethnic m inority farm ing com m unities in uplan d areas. It focuses on two case studies in the u p lan d regions of N o rth V ietnam : a
T hai village in Son La province, near Laos. These com m unities h av e been deeply affected by the forces of com m ercialization in ways that are uniquely shaped by their geographical location w ith in V ietnam . The general questions addressed by the study concern the tran sfo rm atio n of village econom ies u n d er m arket reform . They exam ine the changes in standards of living and quality of life as well as the constraints acting on the d ev elo p m en t of family farms. Im portantly, they focus on the role of the state and local g o v ern m en t in influencing the process of rural developm ent. An ethnographical approach has been adopted—a m u ltip le research strategy, based on m u ltip le theories of agrarian change, a mix of qualitative and quantitative m ethods of data collection, and m u ltip le interview ers. The objective has been to gather in sid er know ledge th ro u g h participant observation and depth interview ing.
The study presents the results of the em pirical analysis of the data and their in terp retatio n according to existing theories of agrarian change. It th en refines som e of those concepts in the light of the em pirical data collected and presents new concepts and generalizations that shed light on the process of upland d ev elo p m en t in V ietnam and o th er reform ing socialist econom ies of Asia.
DrfNl. Flaherty, S u p e r v i ^ (D ë p a rtp g ^ t of Geography)
Dr. Philip Dearaien, D epartm ental M em ber (D epartm ent of Geography)
Dr. Larry McCami, D epartm ental M em ber (D epartm ent of Geography)
Dr. M argot ^ ils o n -M o o re , O utside M em ber (D epartm ent of Anthropology)
Dr. Terry ^ C e e ^ x te m a /j& ( a m in e r (U niversity of British Columbia)
Page
A B S T R A C T ... ii
TABLE OF C O N T E N T S... v
LIST OF FIG URES... xi
LIST OF TABLES... xii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS... xiv
DEDICATION ... xvi
CHAPTERl: INTROD UCTIO N... 1
1.1 N ature of the P ro b le m ...1
1.2 Research Objectives ...4
1.3 C om m ercialization of V ietnam 's Rural Economy; D ile m m a s ...5
1.4 Research M e th o d o lo g y ...10
1.5 D issertation O u tlin e ...11
CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY FOR THE STUDY OF AGRARIAN CHANGE ... 12
2.1 Theory a n d the N ature of Research on A grarian C h a n g e ...12
2.2.2 The Process of A n a ly s is... 26
2.2.3 F ie ld w o rk ... 27
2.2.4 V a lid a tio n ... 36
2.2.5 W r itin g ... 40
2.2.6 E th ic s ... 46
2.2.7 C onducting Ethical Research: a Final T h o u g h t... 54
2.2.8 Sum m ary ... 56
CHAPTER 3: AGRARIAN TRANSFORMATION UNDER MARKET REFORM IN VIETNAM: OVERVIEW ...58
3.1 In tro d u c tio n ... 58
3.2 The Collective E r a ... 60
3.3 The Reform P ro c e s s ... 68
3.4 Social C onsequences... 76
3.5 The Land Privatization Debate ... 83
3.6 Further Issues in Agricultural D evelopm ent... 86
3.7 Prospect for Rural D ev elo p m en t... 95
3.8 Sum m ary ... 98
CHARTER 4: BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY AND FIELD M E T H O D S... 100
4.1 The N orthern M o u n ta in s... 100
4.1.1 The N atural E n v iro n m e n t... 101
4.1.2 Ethnic com position ... 112
4.1.3 A dm inistrative Structure in Rural A r e a s ...114
4.1.4 Case S tu d ie s ... 116
4.2.1 Setting: Lang Son Province... 117
4.2.2 Land U s e ...119
4.2.3 Physical Infrastructure and Services...123
4.2.4 Inequity, Poverty, and Constraints to Developm ent ... 126
4.2.5 The N u n g ...127
4.2.6 The C om m une of Thuy Hung: D e sc rip tio n ...130
4.3 Case Study 2: The Thai village of Ban M u a n g ... 135
4.3.1 Setting: the Moc Chau District of Son La p ro v in c e ... 135
4.3.2 L and U s e ...137
4.3.3 P h y sd al Infrastructure and S e rv ic e s ... 139
4.3.4 People M igration and R elo c atio n ... 142
4.3.5 Inequity an d P o v e r ty ...144
4.3.6 State Farm s and Rural In d u stry ...144
4.3.7 The T h a i ...146
4.3.8 Ban M uang: Village D e scrip tio n ... 148
4.4 Field m ethods ...152
4.4.1 Initial p h a s e ...153
4.4.2 In terv iew s...155
4.4.3 H ousehold selection... 157
4.4.4 D ata Analysis and Validation ... 158
4.4.5 Ethical C o n sid eratio n s...160
4.4.6 C hallenges an d C o n stra in ts... 162
4.4 Sum m ary ... 164
CHAPTER 5: AGRARIAN CHANGE IN THE COMMUNE OF THUY HUNG 166 5.1 The com m une of T huy Hung: Village Selection P r o c è s ...166
5.2 Land D istribution and Land T en u re ... 178
5.2.1 Im plem entation of the 1993 Land L a w ... 178
5.2.2 Land Tenure and Land Inheritance: the N ung V ie w p o in t. 181 5.3 Land U s e ... 184 5.3.1 P ad d y R ice ... 185 5.3.2 Cash C rops ... 192 5.3.3 A nim al Rearing ... 200 5.3.4 A ffo re s ta tio n ... 202 5.4 Analysis of H ousehold In c o m e ... 204 5.4.1 A gricultural In co m e... 204 5.4.2 N on-agricultural in c o m e ... 208
5.4.3 W age Labour and Reciprocal Labour E x ch a n g e ...216
5.4.4 Investm ent G o a l s ... 218
5.5 Differentiation, Poverty, and Ind eb ted n ess... 219
5.5.1 Differentiation and P o v erty ... 219
5.5.2 Indebtedness: Borrowing from Banks and R e la tiv e s ... 225
5.6 C onstraints to D e v e lo p m e n t... 228
5.6.1 Access to Formal C r e d it... 229
5.6.2 A gricultural Land: Q uantity and Quality ...229
5.6.3 Physical Infrastructure: Irrigation W ater and Roads ...230
5.6.4 A gricultural Extension and Veterinary S e rv ice s... 233
5.6.5 Education S e rv ic e s ... 235
5.6.6 H ealth and Family Planning ...239
5.7 Sum m ary ... 241
CHAPTER 6: TRANSFORMATION OF BAN MUANG ...243
6.1 Land D istribution and Land T en u re ...243
6.2.1 Paddy R ice... 247 6.2.2 Hill C r o p s ... 252 6.2.3 Animal Rearing ... 255 6.3 Analysis of H ousehold In c o m e ... 255 6.3.1 Agricultural In co m e... 256 6.3.2 N on-agricultural Incom e ... 259
6.3.3 Income Disparities a n d P o v e rty ...260
6.3.4 Taxes and F e e s ... 263
6.4 Thai C ulture in the M arket Econom y ...264
6.4.1 Land In h eritan c e...265
6.4.2 Division of Labour a n d Reciprocity ... 266
6.5 A gricultural Services; the Role of the Cooperative ... 269
6.6 C onstraints to D evelopm ent ... 271
6.6.1 Physical and Environm ental Constraints: Access to Land . 271 6.6.2 Access to Formal C r e d it... 274
6.6.3 Infrastructural constraints: irrigation and r o a d s ... 275
6.6.4 Social Services: Education and H e a lth ... 276
6.7 Sum m ary ... 279
CHAPTER 7: DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS ... 281
7.1 Transform ation of F a r m in g ... 283
7.2 Farm Developm ent C o n s tr a in ts ... 289
7.3 Economic Diversification an d Structural C h a n g e ... 293
7.4 Socio-economic D ifferentiation... 296
7.5 Poverty ...303
7.6 M o d e rn ity ... 306
7.7 State and S o c ie ty ...308
BIBLIOGRA PHY... 320
APPENDIX
A H ousehold Q u e stio n n a ire ... 338 B Village-Leader Q u e s tio n n a ire ... 347
4.1 M ainland Southeast A s ia ...102
4.2 V ietnam 's Economic Z o n e s... 103
4.3 N o rth e rn V i e tn a m ...105
4.4 V ietnam 's Forests ...107
4.5 Province of Lang Son, District of Cao Loc and Commune of Thuy H u n g ...118
4.6 C om m une of Thuy H ung ... 131
4.7 Province of Son La, District of Moc C hau and Commune of Phieng L u o n g 136 4.8 C om m une of Phieng L u o n g ... 149
4.1 D eforestation and Barren Land in Vietnam ...108
4.2 Sources of Annual D eforestation in the N orthern U p la n d s ...109
5.1 Size of Family Land H oldings in the C om m une of Thuy H ung ... 186
5.2 Size of Family Rice Land H oldings in the C om m une of Thuy H u n g . 186 5.3 Rice Yields in Thuy H u n g ... 190
5.4 Use of Chemical Fertilizers in Thuy H u n g ... 190
5.5 H ousehold Self-sufficiency in Rice Production in Thuy H u n g ...191
5.6 Relative Importance of Factors of Production in Rice Farm ing in Thuy H u n g . . . . 194
5.7 C rop Production by H ouseholds in N a Ho ...194
5.8 H ousehold Production of Tree C rops in Thuy H u n g ...196
5.9 H ousehold Production of Aniseed in Po Mach and Na P a n ... 196
5.10 Trees Planted by H ouseholds in Thuy H u n g ... 197
5.11 Anise Trees Planted in Po M ach and N a Pan ... 197
5.12 H ousehold Animal H usbandry in Thuy H ung ... 201
5.13 Afforestation: Trees Planted by H ouseholds U nder Decree 327 ... 201
5.14 H ousehold A gricultural Incom e in T huy H ung ... 205
5.15 H ousehold A gricultural Incom e in N a H o ... 205
5.16 H ousehold Agricultural Incom e in N a Pan ... 206
5.17 H ousehold Off-farm Income in Thuy H u n g ... 209
5.18 Total Annual Income in T huy H u n g ... 209
5.19 Daily Income Earned in Off-farm Activities in Thuy H ung ...214
5.20 Farm er Investment Priorities in T huy H u n g ... 220
5.21 C hange in Household Income from 1994 to 1996 ... 220
5.22 C onsum er Items and M achinery O w ned by Households in Thuy H u n g ... 227
5.23 Source of Loans C ontracted by H ouseholds in Thuy H u n g ...227
5.25 C om m on M otives for Borrowing Money from Relatives
in Thuy H u n g 228
5.26 C onstraints to Family Farm D evelopm ent Identified by
Thuy H u n g In h a b ita n ts... 231
5.27 N um ber of C hildren per Family in Thuy H u n g ...240
6.1 Size of Family Land H oldings in Ban M u a n g ... 249
6.2 Rice Yields in Ban M u a n g ... 249
6.3 Use of Chem ical Fertilizers for Wet-Rice Farm ing in Ban M uang . . . 250
6.4 H ousehold Self-sufficiency in Rice Production in Ban M u a n g ... 250
6.5 Use of Chemical Fertilizers in Hill Farm ing in Ban M u a n g ... 251
6.6 H ousehold C ash C rop Production in Ban M u a n g ... 253
6.7 H ousehold Plum Production in Ban M uang ... 253
6.8 H ousehold A nim al H usbandry in Ban M uang ... 256
6.9 H ousehold A gricultural Income in Ban M uang ... 261
6.10 Total A nnual Incom e in Ban M u a n g ... 261
6.11 H ousehold Taxes and Fees in Ban M u a n g ... 264
6.12 Family size and Education Costs in Ban M u a n g ...278
There are m any people to w hom I w o u ld like to express my gratitude for their assistance in the realization of this doctoral research program m e. First, I w o u ld like to th an k my supervisor. D r. M ark Flaherty, for his h elp in designing the project and his skillful review of the thesis. I am also indebted to th e com m ittee m em bers. Dr. Philip D earden, Larry M cCann, an d Dr. M argot W ilson-M oore for their su p p o rt an d valuable suggestions.
I w o u ld also like to express m y a p p reciatio n to all the people w ho assisted m e in Vietnam . I have been fo rtu n ate to receive com m ents an d advises of n u m ero u s researchers at the N ational Institute for A gricultural Planning an d Projection in Hanoi (NIAPP). I extend a special thanks to Dr. Vu N an g D ung, the vice-director of this in stitu te, and the sponsor of m y research project, for his assistance and guidance in the im plem entation of the program m e, and to M r N guyen Quoc T rung, M r N guyen Ha H ue, and Mr Le H u n g T uan, for accom panying me on the field trips to the uplands of N orth V ietnam . I thank M r La Rinh, Director, an d M r Vu D inh Truy, Vice-Director of Lang Son's provincial branche of the M inistry for A gricultural and Rural D evelopm ent for allow ing me to conduct unrestricted research in Lang Son Province. 1 also thank all developm ent specialists and policy experts in Hanoi w ho p ro v id ed valuable information, especially Dr H a H uy T hanh, Professor of Economics at H anoi's Institute of Economics, and Mr N guyen N go Hao, policy expert in the national governm ent. In addition, 1 w ish to thank the leaders of the N u n g and Thai villages th at 1 visited for their hospitality and h e lp , a n d all th e resid en ts of N o rth e rn V ietnam w ho ag re ed to the in terv iew s.
This research program m e was fu nded by an aw ard from the Intem ation
Social Sciences and H um ai ties Research Council of C anada (SHHRC) and the U niversity of Victoria. I a m grateful to these institutions for their financial support.
This w ork is dedicated to the ethnic m inorities of Vietnam.
INTRODUCTION
"One cannot hope that in this very populated country, whose soil could not feed peasants much more generously than it is doing so today, material ease w ill reign one day. But man has more than material needs: traditional society has given peasants a social equilibrium that is lacking in m any more developed countries, which the pu rsu it o f exclusively material goals has thrown in disarray."
(Gourou 1936:578)
1.1 N ature o f th e Problem
The stu d y of agrarian change has been one of the m ost d a u n tin g tasks facing those w ho seek to u n d erstan d Southeast A sia's contem porary developm ent. Rural life in the m o d e m state, while it h ad already been irreversibly transform ed as the result of E u ro p ea n colonialism , is now the object of p erv asiv e influence from m o d ern izatio n a n d com m ercialization policies th a t h av e left v ery few farm ing com m unities unaffected by the developm ent process. The volum inous literature th at h as becom e available on the transform ation of p e asa n t societies u n d er the rising tide of m odernization reflects the complexity of the subject and points to the difficulty of synthesizing the theoretical concepts laid o u t by researchers as the result of em pirical stu d ies i. Research has exam ined the p henom enon along three broad d im en sio n s.
The first d im en sio n concerns the social a n d ecological consequences of technological in n o v atio n —the G reen Revolution. These have been an d continue to be in v estig ated in a variety of A sian settings. O ne m ajor concern has been w hether the d issem ination of G reen Revolution technology is a prim ary cause of
w hile the new , capital-intensive rice technology su p p o rts the economic expansion am bitions of large, "progressive" farm ers, it does little to im prove the livelihoods of sm all farm ers. O th ers, like Rigg (1989), m ain tain th a t the new a g ric u ltu ral technology is scale-neutral and that it is increasingly being adopted by all classes of farm ers. The o th er broad area of concern addresses the ecological im pact of the G reen Revolution. The m ain research issue has been w hether the in tro d u ctio n of cro p m o n o c u ltu re co m b in ed w ith th e in ten siv e u se of chem ical fertilizers, h erb icid es, a n d p esticid es has led to a situ a tio n of d im in ish in g re tu rn s in agricultural production. The suspicion is th at further increases in land productivity w o u ld resu lt in farm ing practises th at are neither ecologically n or econom ically sustainable in the long term . Most w riters, including G laeser and Rigg, are un ited on this issue. They em phasize the n eed for a change in agricultural p ro d u ctio n m ethods. In particular, they recom m end that farm ers m ove aw ay from an in p u t intensive farm ing technology to an approach th at combines m odem rice technology w ith traditional agricultural practices an d knowledge.
The second dim ension relates to the im pact of agricultural com m ercialization on ru ra l societies. This issue has b een w id ely in v estig ated , o ften in d irect association w ith the sp read of new farm ing technology. Two opposing schools of th o u g h t exist on the im pact of developing capitalism on peasant econom ies. One school, d ire c tly in sp ire d by classical M arx ist-L en in ist th o u g h t, a sse rts th a t com m oditization of agricultural pro d u ctio n leads to the gradual disappearance of family farm ing, and prom otes the differentiation of the peasantry into a sm all class of capitalist farm ers and a large class of landless labourers. The other school insists on the resilience of the family farm. M uch of the research on ag rarian change in Southeast Asia su p p o rts this second view. According to Bray (1986), in m ost rice- gro w in g regions the p easan t econom y survives in articu latio n w ith large-scale capitalist farm ing because peasants are able to su p p ly goods m ore cheaply th an cap italist p ro d u cers. For Rigg (1997), it is the g ro w in g availability of off-field
their land. Seasonal em ploym ent in rural and urb an industries provides farm ers w ith income to invest in their family farms (187-98). Elson (1997) contends that the forces of agrarian change essentially have their roots in the non-farm econom y (173- 9).
The th ird dim ension addresses the consequences of m odernization policy in the context of state building in the post-independence era. This area of concern has been, if not th o ro u g h ly researched, at least w idely exam ined in a variety of case studies. In areas w here ethnic m inorities make up a significant section of the rural p o p u latio n , the im p o rta n t general research question has been w h eth er national d evelopm ent policy a n d the bureaucratization of the adm inistrative system have resulted in integration o r assim ilation of ethnic-m inority groups into m ainstream society. In political term s, the question has b een w h eth er the state political a p p a ra tu s p ro v id e s for local p articip atio n in ru ra l d ev elo p m en t p la n n in g or w hether it im plies the im position of a new social a n d economic ord er conceived in capital cities. Researchers like Chambers (1984) and Colchester (1994) call for rural dev elo p m en t strateg ies th at encourage local initiatives an d give local farm ers greater control o v er resources and access to a greater variety of dev elo p m en t alternatives.
The three com ponents of agrarian transform ation—technological change in farm ing, com m ercialization of the rural economy, an d state-building, are interacting to tran sfo rm A sia's ru ra l societies. This is particularly evident in V ietnam and C hina. In less th an a decade, these two nations have undergone m ajor economic tran sfo rm atio n as th eir collective system s of ag ricu ltu ral p ro d u ctio n have been replaced by free-entrepreneurial systems based on family farms. Both Vietnam and C hina are m ulti-ethnic societies in w hich a dom inant group— the Viet or the H an respectively— m onopolize the control of the national and political agenda. In both countries, the ethnic m in o rity groups, their interests su b su m ed to those of the d o m in an t g ro u p s, have seen their livelihoods becom e increasingly d isru p ted by
Beresford and macFarlane 1995; Buffet 1998).
A lth o u g h excellent field research has been p erfo rm ed on the im pact of m ark et reform s on the ru ral areas of V ietnam and C hina (see, for exam ple, N go V inh Long 1993; Croll 1994), few have focused on u p lan d areas. This is especially tru e of V ietnam , w here econom ic reform postdates C h in a's by approxim ately a d e ca d e. T he p ro g ram m e of econom ic ren o v a tio n {doi moi), w h ich w a s im plem ented nation-w ide in 1986, has caused fundam ental change in village life in the u p lan d s. Little is know n, how ever, about the n atu re of ag rarian change an d how it has m anifested itself in a variety of im portant rural indicators including the grow th of socio-economic disparities, the extent of poverty and landlessness, and the differential access to capital by m en and w om en in different groups and economic activities. At the same time, the forces of rural transform ation in V ietnam 's uplan d reg io n s o p e ra te in a co n tex t of co n strain ts actin g on farm an d co m m u n ity d ev elo p m en t th a t has been in ad eq u ately explored. As a result, the theoretical fram ew o rk on the tran sfo rm a tio n of u p la n d eth n ic m in o rity societies u n d e r m o d ern izatio n policy rem ains largely undeveloped. A nd yet it is necessary to u n d erstan d these changes in o rd er to assess the effectiveness of the national reform progranrune for the social an d economic developm ent of the u p lan d regions. Even u n d e r an in cre asin g ly lib e ra l econom ic d e v e lo p m e n t id eo lo g y , V ie tn a m 's governm ent has an im p o rtan t role to play in steering the direction of investm ent flows an d prom oting d ev elo p m en t in ethnic m inority areas. The need for such intervention calls for a better theoretical fram ew ork on these issues.
1.2 Research Objectives
The p u rp o se of this stu d y is to shed light on the process of developm ent in V ietnam 's u p lan d s and to contribute to the theory on agrarian change in Southeast Asia. This goal will be achieved by investigating the effects of the current national d ev elo p m en t policy and free-m arket reform program m e on the ethnic m inority
of this study are:
• to critically assess the literature on agrarian change in Vietnam;
• to d em o n strate the applicability of eth n o g rap h ic w o rk an d in terp retiv e research m ethodology to the study of hum an developm ent;
• to exam ine th ro u g h field study the transform ation of the peasant-household econom y u n d er m arket reform s in Vietnam;
• to investigate the consequences of national d evelopm ent policy for ethnic m inorities w ho live in the uplands of N orthern Vietnam , and to identify the developm ent constraints in that region;
• to further develop the theoretical concepts needed to explain the social and econom ic tran sfo rm a tio n of the farm ing co m m u n ities w ho live in the u p lan d s of V ietnam and its neighbouring countries.
This stu d y will im prove ou r u n d erstan d in g of agrarian change in the developing w orld an d provide insights that will facilitate economic planning and thereby help to im prove the quality of life in ru ral areas. The follow ing section describes the content for the developm ent of these objectives.
1.3 C om m ercialization of V ietnam 's R ural Economy; Dilem m as
Vietnam , in its transform ation from a socialist to a m arket economy, shares a m u ltitu d e of developm ent issues w ith China and other countries of Southeast Asia.
d eco llectiv izatio n of ag ricu ltu re, the in tro d u c tio n of household resp o n sib ility sy stem s in farm in g , an d the com m ercialization of ag ricu ltu ral p ro d u cts have generated econom ic grow th and raised sta n d ard s of living in rural areas (Le Cao D oan 1995; Leem ing 1993:89-91). H ow ever, these policies have also created a series of p ro b lem s w h ic h call into q uestion th e v iab ility of reform in econom ically disadvantaged areas.
S eld en (1993) h as d o c u m e n te d a se t of issu e s th at challenge ru ra l d ev elo p m en t plaim ers in V ietnam an d C hina. The privatization of ag ricu ltu ral p ro d u ctio n has generally resulted in a n e t disin v estm en t in agriculture; a rise in spatial differentiation and class polarization; a decline in comm unity services in the areas of health, education, and welfare; a loss of state ability to control fertility; and a m u ltitu d e of en v iro n m en tal problem s. In V ietnam , w h ere the m arg in above subsistence an d levels of com m odification rem ain m uch low er than in C hina, the effects of these problem s have been m ore severe (de V ylder 1995; Fforde and Sénèque 1995). Several aspects of agrarian change in Vietnam are directly relevant to this study.
The debate on land privatization. M o d e rn iza tio n a n d com m ercialization of
a g ric u ltu re h av e had a considerable im p act on V ietnam 's rural areas. Survey stu d ies have sh o w n grow ing social d ifferen tiatio n in all regions w ith increased affluence in the M ekong delta and w id esp read poverty in the highlands. In the 1990s, the question of ru ral inequalities has becom e a focus of debate on reform am ong governm ent officials and academics.
N go V inh Long (1993) sum m arizes the situation by noting that one side of the debate, com posed of econom ists, ag ricu ltu ral experts, an d social scientists has concluded that cooperativization of agriculture has generally failed. In their view , a th o ro u g h a g ric u ltu ral reform th at in clu d es p riv a tiz a tio n of lan d o w n e rsh ip , legalization of lan d transfers, an d inheritance rights is necessary. The other side of
p riv ate lan d o w n ersh ip w o u ld lead to lan d fragm entation an d increased rural differentiation, forcing unem ployed an d landless peasants to m igrate to already cro w d ed u rb an areas. They speak against further erosion of the cooperatives and d e m a n d th at the central governm ent invest m ore in highland areas to close the economic gap betw een those areas and the low land regions. M any scientific experts, how ever, are increasingly in favour of privatizing land. They contend th at social differentiation is largely the result of occupational change an d diversification in the ru ral econom ies rather th an land concentration. In their view , the re-establishm ent of the peasant econom y and m arket relations in Vietnam will be incom plete if the state fails to privatize land (Le Cao Doan 1995:119-24).
Resource scarcity in upland areas. The ethnic m inority groups w ho m ake up the m ajority of V ietnam 's u p lan d population have had little in p u t to the ideological d eb ate w hich has affected their livelihoods and political fortunes in direct and significant ways (Rambo 1995). As a result of central planning policies, the upland are as h av e b een subjected to n atio n al p ressu res of v ario u s form s in clu d in g p ro g ram m es for resettling low landers in m ountainous regions an d schem es of resource extraction, especially in forestry and m ining. These developm ents have cau sed severe shortages of arable lan d a n d conflicts o v er lan d u se b etw een new com ers and the local populations.
They are also likely to have caused significant changes in natural resource use by farm ers in indigenous com m unities. A lthough little research has been done to investigate those changes in V ietnam 's u p lan d areas, evidence from case studies in o th er p a rts of southeast Asia suggests th at resource scarcity is one of the leading factors p ro m o tin g changes in agricultural techniques a n d cro p p in g p attern s in farm ing com m unities. C ooper (1984), for exam ple, show ed that severe resource scarcity in the m o u n tain s of N o rth ern T hailand led H m o n g farm ers to rely increasingly on the cultivation of opium as a cash crop for subsistence. H enin (1995)
a m ain com m ercial crop. H enin (1996) sh o w ed th at the A kha of the sam e region essentially becam e tea grow ers. Given the rap id population increases an d the high rate of deforestation in V ietnam 's highlands, resource scarcity is of critical concern. O ne of the objectives of this research p ro g ram m e, therefore, is to investigate the changes in lan d use in a specific setting in V ietnam 's u p lan d regions.
The long arm o f the state. Conflicts betw een local people and governm ent are n o t lim ited to access to land. Since reunification of the country, an im portant goal of national policy has been to strengthen ethnic integration and national unity. The policy d esig n an d the im plem entation of d ev elo p m en t program m es to this effect, h ow ever, have been largely carried o u t in a hierarchical, top-dow n fashion w hich has, so far, provided very little scope for the participation of the local populations. Officially, V ietnam 's C onstitution recognizes the equality of all ethnic groups, and, in rea lity , th e p ro p o rtio n of ethnic m in o rity rep resen tativ es in the N atio n al A ssem bly is higher than their n um bers in the p o p u latio n at large?. The goal of social a n d political equality for all Vietnam ese citizens has been carried further into regional planning. In order to eradicate socioeconom ic disparities betw een u p lan d a n d lo w la n d p o p u la tio n s, the g o v e rn m e n t h as in v e ste d h eav ily in to th e in frastru ctu re of upland areas and p ro v id ed technical an d m anagerial services. At
the sam e tim e, it has extended its ad m in istrativ e n etw o rk deep into these areas, gaining access to local resources as well as control over local institutions in o rd er to achieve its national developm ent objectives (Kerkvliet 1995).
Development dilemmas. A n im plicit objective of this research program m e is to in v estig ate the developm ent dilem m as faced by ru ra l com m unities in V ietnam 's highlands. H irsch (1990), in a study of developm ent in rural Thailand, has p o in ted
2 For a presentation of Vietnam's political system , read Vietnam Economic Times (1997) 'People Power; National Assembly Explained', Vietnam Economic Times (issue 41), pp. 14-21.
one hand, ru ral developm ent is prom oted by central authorities as a m eans for local residents to im prove their stan d ard s of living by giving them access to the resources available to the w ider society, such as m odem farm ing technology an d investm ent capital. O n the other, the access to village institutions and local resources afforded b y ru ra l d e v elo p m e n t to th e sta te a n d capital red u ces local au to n o m y and dim inishes control over local resources for the m ajority of villagers. It follow s that ru ra l d ev elo p m en t caim ot be exam ined in d ep en d en tly of an analysis of broader issues of control and pow er.
The political economy. Blaikie's analysis of the political econom y in the ru ral areas of the developing w orld lends su p p o rt to this conclusion. Blaikie (1985) argues that the vicious circle of m arginalization of rural p roducers and ecological destruction results from decisions th at m ust be considered as p art of a w ider political economic analysis. R esearch n eed s to be conducted to ascertain w h a t im plications soil d e g ra d a tio n is likely to h av e on local conditions of g ro w in g in eq u a lity and im poverishm ent. The results of this research could help establish w h eth er there a re w id e r c o n tra d ic tio n s b e tw ee n the im p o v e rish ed se g m en t of th e ru ral pop u latio n , w hich both directly causes and is affected by soil degradation, an d the m ore p riv ileg ed class, w h ich m aintains the conditions for social in eq u ality and en v iro n m en tal d estru ctio n .
The role of the village elite in the dispossession and m arginalization of small farm ers in Southeast Asia has been em phasized by T urton (1989). The m em bers of this sm all m in o rity of w ealth y households have p riv ileg ed access to la n d and reso u rces. T hey d eriv e th eir ad v an tag es from th eir external connections and alliances and from linking the villagers w ith state an d m arket structures. In the case of V ietnam , a new ru ral elite h as em erged, com posed of local C om m unist Party m em bers, local officials, an d w ealthy peasants. These influential in d iv id u als have u sed th eir positions of prestige an d pow er in the village com m unity to reinforce
their control over local economic activities (Kerkvliet 1995:77-80; Kaye 1994; Kolko 1995).
Development constraints. One im portant objective of this research pro g ram m e is to id en tify the d e v elo p m en t constraints in V ietn am 's u p lan d areas. Increasingly, researchers have come to identify the lack of funds available for investm ent in the u p la n d reg io n s' in frastru ctu re as one of the m ain obstacles to the successful im p le m e n ta tio n of econom ic reform s. T he p au city of roads, electricity, cred it facilities, an d agricultural extension facilities has caused agricultural p ro d u ctiv ity in the u p la n d regions to fall further b e h in d th a t of the low lands. The a u ste rity m easures im p lem en ted during econom ic liberalization have also a m o u n te d to a loss of social benefits, such as subsidized health care and education, w hich threatens the u p la n d farm e rs' w ell-being an d h in d e rs th eir developm ent (K erkvliet an d Porter 1995:16-7).
T he d eclin e in general in v estm en t in th e u p lan d region m ay also be a cco m p an ied by a decrease in co m m u n ity involvem ent in local d e v e lo p m e n t projects. H irsch (1990) has remarked that an u n h ap p y consequence of state-led rural dev elo p m en t in Southeast Asian countries is th at local communities have becom e increasingly reluctant to assume the responsibility for infrastructural w ork. W here in the p ast, school construction, road im p ro v em en t, and irrigation m ain ten an ce w ere the responsibility of villagers, the u n certain ty over w hether the g o v ern m en t or villagers are responsible for such projects leaves w ork undone. In V ietnam , H ieb ert (1992a) has noted that in frastru c tu ra l developm ent is also m a d e m ore difficult by an increasing local opposition to governm ent development plans.
1.4 Research M ethodology
The research approach ad o p ted h ere is interpretive, based on eth n o g rap h ic stu d ies an d fieldw ork (see C hapter 2). The validity of this ap p ro ach h as been su p p o rted b y a grow ing body of literature on research methodology (H am m ersfield
an d A tkinson 1993; Eyles 1988). The appropriateness of such m ethod for the study of rural developm ent is dem onstrated here through its application to case studies in the u p lan d s of N o rth Vietnam . A m ultiple research strategy is ad o p ted , based on m u ltip le theories of a g ra rian change and a mix of q u alitativ e an d q u an titativ e m eth o d s of d ata collection. These m ethods em phasize th e im p o rtan ce of the h u m an agency in ru ral transform ation. Techniques of p articip a n t observation and d e p th interview ing, aim ed at acquiring insider knowledge, reveal the experience of agrarian change in the peasant communities studied. The aim is to contribute to the expansion of the theoretical fram ew ork on rural developm ent, agrarian change, and ethnic-m inority integration in the developing countries of Asia.
1.5 D issertation O utline
This dissertation has been divided in seven chapters. C hapter tw o discusses co n cep ts of a g ra ria n ch an g e in S outheast Asia an d d escrib es th e research m eth o d o lo g y em ployed in th is study. C hapter three p ro v id es an overview of V ietnam 's agricultural policy an d its impact on rural p eople since independence. C h ap ter four presen ts the background to the two case stu d ies conducted in this research program m e and describes the field methods. C hapters five an d six present and discuss the results of the case studies. C hapter seven sum m arizes the findings of the stu d ies an d p resen ts the theoretical im plications a n d conclusions. It also outlines the practical significance of the findings for the d ev elo p m en t of farm ing com m unities in the u p lan d s of Vietnam and its Asian neighbours.
RESEARCH M ETHODOLOGY FOR THE STUDY OF AGRARIAN CHANGE
T his chapter d iscu sses the conceptual and m eth o d o lo g ical fram ew o rk s ad o p ted for the study.
2.1 Theory and the Nature o f Research on Agrarian Change
O ne m atter of cen tral im p o rtan ce in conducting an em p iric a l s tu d y of agrarian change is the applicability of existing concepts and theories. The com plexity o f a g ra ria n change a n d th e m u ltitu d e of environm ents in w h ic h it is b ein g investigated call for a clarification of key concepts. A grarian change itself m ay be conceived as the stu d y of th e transform ation of village life u n d e r the forces of m o d ern izatio n —co m m ercializatio n of ag ricu ltu re, intensification of c u ltiv atio n m ethods, and state interv en tio n in rural developm ent. The transform ation of rural society u n d er these forces can be exam ined along a m ultitude of dim ensions. These in clu d e the diversification of agricultural production, the grow ing co n trib u tio n of non-farm ing activities an d m igration to the rural economy, and the factors enabling o r disabling farm er p articip atio n in the national market. Also im p o rta n t are the changes in social values a n d cultural traditions in the village, the g ro w th of incom e d isp arities w ithin com m unities a n d regions (as well as the extent of poverty), and the changing nature of relations betw een farm ers and the state. A th o ro u g h stu d y of a g ra ria n change m u st encom pass these dim ensions of change b y exam in in g the im pact of m odernization o n ru ra l life according to units of social an d econom ic organization, of w hich the tw o prom inent ones are the village and the household.
The peasant village
M uch research on ag rarian change depicts the traditional rice-grow ing village
in S o u th e ast A sia (k n o w n as ban am ong th e T hai peoples, xa a m o n g the V ietnam ese, desa for the Malay) as an isolated, inw ard-looking, self-sufficient, and agriculturally-based com m unity (C handler 1987: 10-13). The village w as a ritual com m unity organized aro u n d the local tem ple {wat in the Thai village, dinh in the V ietnam ese village) a n d a shrine dedicated to the local spirits (Keyes 1987: 159-60; W olf 1969: 172-3). M oral econom ists such as Scott (1976) a n d G eertz (1963) em phasize the closed a n d corporate nature of the traditional village. A t the centre of village organization w ere informal social controls w hich aim ed at redistributing the w e alth d e riv e d larg ely from ag ricu ltu ral p ro d u ctio n am o n g v illag ers and p ro v id in g for the m inim al needs of the village p o o ri. Thus, the m odel of the traditional village h ad a reserve of comm unal land that was allocated o n the basis of the n e ed of p o o r villagers. The land ten u re system s in place (su ch as share- cropping) p ro v id ed ten an ts as well as landlords a substantial level of subsistence crisis insurance, by w hich variable rents rather th an fixed rents cushioned peasants against the vagaries of agricultural production. P atterns of cooperation a t village level w ere based on strict reciprocity am ong individuals. "Patterns of reciprocity, forced g en ero sity , com m unal land, and w o rk -sh arin g helped to ev en o u t the inevitable tro u g h s in a fam ily's resources w hich m ig h t otherw ise h ave throw n them below subsistence" (Scott 1976: 3). The collective practices of reciprocity and re d is trib u tiv e sch em es w ere facilitated b y th e ro le of in fo rm a l, n o n -sta te organizations th at existed in the village. An inform al village council, dom inated by p ro m in e n t local fig u res, p erfo rm ed re c u rrin g functions such as tem p o rarily allocating parcels of com m unal land to land-poor families or red istrib u tin g the tax b u rd en am ong villagers. O ther nonpolitical organizations—kinship groups, temple organizations, trad e associations, and so on—p ro v id ed loyalties an d com m itm ents
1 A lthough the traditional institutions in the Southeast Asian village contained wealth redistributive mechanisms to improve the survival of the weakest, village communities were by no means egalitarian. Wolf (1969) points out that considerable disparities in wealth and status existed in the Vietnamese village. Thus access to land was controlled by "a corporation of family heads who held rights to land within the village orbit" (171). In contrast, "the village also contained people who held no l«md, and were hence socially and politically disprivileged" (171).
th at prom oted collective action (Little 1989; 48).
In the moral econom y fram ew ork, the "norm of reciprocity" a n d the "right to subsistence" are the tw o m ain principles of the subsistence ethic th a t characterize th e p e a sa n t econom y (Scott 1976). This fram ew ork does n o t c o n trad ict the theoretical model of rational, profit-m axim izing, risk-evaluating p easan t behaviour p ro p o sed by Popkin (1976). In his view , the peasant-farm er is m o tiv ated by self- rational interest rath er th an th at of the collective group. Peasants are "prim arily concerned w ith the w elfare a n d security of self an d family" (31). They w ill favour personal investm ent in future w elfare by accumulating savings an d raising children over relying on reciprocity a n d insurance from the village (23). H ow ever, as Little (1989) rem arks, "it is possible to reg ard peasants are rational decision-m akers and still reg ard the traditional village as social context in w hich cooperation, collective actions, and co m m u n itarian practices occur relatively read ily " (39). Little goes further b y stating that "the subsistence ethic is cross-cultural because it derives from stru ctu ral features of p e asa n t life rath er than cultural traditions or religious values (31).
The corporate n a tu re of the traditional village in S o u th east A sia has been progressively eroded u n d e r the econom ic developm ent process first introduced u n d e r E uropean colonial a d m in istratio n and then accelerated by th e m o d em in d ep en d en t state. As red istrib u tiv e w ealth institutions of the trad itio n al village w ere p ro g ressiv ely d ism a n tle d by colonial a u th o ritie s, d isp a ritie s in w ealth increased and com m unity self-consciousness and solidarity w ere w eak en ed (Marr 1981: 3-5). The experience of V ietnam in the post-colonial e ra h ig h lig h ts this transform ation in a d ram a tic w ay. V ietnam 's agrarian a rran g em en ts to d ay are considerably different from those that existed before the liberation of the country by the V iet Minh. The m o st radical transform ation w as the sy stem of collective agricultural p ro d u ctio n im p o sed by the totalitarian C om m unist state in the years th at followed the w ith d raw al of the French colonial forces in 1954. Villages in that era lost much of their trad itio n al functions and organizational system s in favour of
com m unes, arbitrary adm inistrative units that g ro u p ed several villages and even tow ns. Com m unes w ere the nexus of economic production as well as social control in V ietnam 's ru ral areas2. From the early 1980s, this system was progressively reform ed and replaced by a system of production based on m arkets {doi moi) (see C hapter 3 and C hapter 4).
Im portant questions of agrarian change concern the im pact of m odernization on village society an d village institutions. Has land reform tow ards privatization p ro m o ted accum ulation of resources and w ealth in the village? Does landlessness exist? W hat is the n atu re of social and cultural institutions in the village? Have red istrib u tiv e schem es su rv iv ed th ro u g h o u t the tran sfo rm atio n process? Have ten u rial arrangem ents changed? H as the com m oditization of services replaced reciprocal labour exchange arrangem ents that prevailed in the traditional village? At the same time the validity of the village as a unit of analysis may be questioned. Rigg (1997) challenges the view of the village as the basic u n it of rural life because extra-village links are im p o rtan t in defining the village itself (157). In his view ag rarian change cannot be dissociated from u rb an transform ation because a large p ro p o rtio n of the p o p u la tio n in m o d ern to w n s an d cities o rig in ates in the countryside. In turn, major adaptations in agriculture can be view ed as adaptations b ro u g h t in p art by labour loss to non-farm w ork, land abandonm ent, and m igration to urban areas (241).
The peasant household
One focus of a stu d y of agrarian change is th u s the transform ation of the village as a basic u n it of econom ic and social o rg an izatio n . A n other is the transform ation of the peasant household economy u n d er policy reform and village organizational change. Peasant households are understood in this w ork as farming h o u se h o ld s w h ich 'fu n c tio n as rela tiv e ly c o rp o ra te u n its of p ro d u c tio n , consum ption, and rep ro d u ctio n ' (Johnston et al. 1994: 436). They are characterized
by direct access to land, by p red o m in an t use of fam ily labour, an d by a m ix of subsistence an d commercial agriculture. They participate in a subordinate status in w id er political econom ies, p rin cip ally the nation state, b u t éilso increasingly the global econom y (Johnston et al. 1994: 436; Dickenson et al. 1996:126-31).
Ellis (1988) brin g s to lig h t th at peasants m ake investm ent decisions in an economic environm ent disto rted b y a num ber of constraints (w hen com pared w ith farm enterprises in developed countries). First, peasant agriculture is characterized by m an y u n certain ties w h ic h influence p e a sa n ts' econom ic decisions. These u n c ertain tie s take m any form s. N a tu ra l h a z a rd s (d ro u g h ts, floods, volcanic e ru p tio n s, p e sts a n d p la n t d iseases) re p re se n t a su b s ta n tia l c o m p o n e n t of uncertainty in agricultural p roduction as they can create havoc in the best m anaged a g ricu ltu ral com m unities. M ark et fluctuations are another form of ag ricu ltu ral u n certain ty . They em b o d y th e fact th at the u n v o id ab le tim e-lag b etw een the decision to plant a crop an d crop achievem ent u n d e r im perfect m arket inform ation m ay result in loss of income. State policies in the developing w o rld often a d d an elem ent of u n certainty to the econom ic environm ent. D ecisions on farm in p u t subsidies, pricing policies, an d cred it subsidies influence peasan ts' ability to invest in to n ew farm ing technologies. The state also acts as an im p o rtan t force on agricultural production by p ro v id in g extension w ork, infrastructural m aintainance, an d social services.
T he lite ra tu re on a g ric u ltu ra l d e v elo p m e n t h ig h lig h ts the sa fety -first p rinciple as a key trait of p e asa n t behaviour. T he uncertainties of ag ricu ltu ral p ro d u c tio n stim u late a risk -av ersio n b eh av io u r th a t g u id es p easan ts in th eir decisions concerning new investm ents. The struggle for survival is often such th at th eir m ain objective is to m inim ize the chances of p ro d u cin g below subsistence crisis lev el ra th e r th a n m ax im ize th e a v e ra g e re tu rn . "T he su b siste n c e level—p erh ap s, a 'd a n g e r zo n e' rather th an 'level' w ould be m ore accurate— is a threshold below w hich the qualitative deterioration in subsistence, security, status, a n d fam ily cohesion is m assive an d painful" (Scott 1976: 17). Peasants express the
goal of securing subsistance th ro u g h a w ide array of choices: an inclination to mix crops an d to em ploy several seed varieties for the sam e crop; a preference for stable if m odest yields; a bias to w ard s crops m eant to be consum ed rath er th an sold. P e asan ts w ill grow cash cro p s only w h e n these do n o t com pete w ith th eir subsistence crops in their requirem ents of land, labour, an d capital.
Ellis (1988) points out th at the p easan t's risk-aversion behaviour often leads to resource u se at the farm level th at is economically inefficient. The lack of o u tp u t m ax im izatio n considerations in the p e a sa n t h o u se h o ld 's in v estm en t strateg ies un av o id ab ly resu lts in u n d er-u tilizatio n of resources. At the same tim e, p easan t risk aversion inhibits the ad option—an d diffusion to others—of innovations th at could im p ro v e the o u tp u t a n d incom e of ru ra l fam ilies. This is related to the im perfect know ledge system of m o d em agronom ic techniques and to the structural constraints of ad option such as the high cost or the unavailability of ru ral credit. P easant risk-aversion behaviour varies along class lines. W ealthier farm ers, w ho are less co n cern ed w ith su rv iv al, are m ore likely to in n o v ate an d in ten sify pro d u ctio n techniques.
Agrarian differentiation
A principal objective of studies of agrarian change is to investigate the process of econom ic a n d social d ifferen tiatio n w ith in a n d am o n g ru ral coirununities com m unities. W hite (1989) questions the relevance of classical m odels an d debates on ag rarian differentiation to contem porary societies of Asia3. M any local studies po in t to local processes of socio-economic differentiation w ithin a global capitalist context, b u t th ese analyses cannot be easily eq u ated w ith "classical" m odels of differentiation as first advanced by Lenin in the context of Russian agriculture at the
3 Agrarian change is viewed here as the combined changes that occur in rural areas under the influence of three main forces or agents—population growth, commercialization, and the influence of the state (Rigg 1991:40). Some of the most important changes include socio-economic differentiation, rising landlessness, poverty, and the breakdown of traditional society (Rigg 1989374-5).
tu rn of the century. A lthough classical analyses have m uch to offer in the w ay of specific approaches and insights w hich are relevât to the contem porary situation, this relevance "is to be explored rath er th an assum ed or im posed" (18). W h i t e em phasizes that agrarian differentiation is a dynamic process that m ust be seen n o t only in term s of increasing incom e inequalities, b u t prim arily in term s of changing relations am ong country dwellers. Differentiation involves a cum ulative process of change in w hich different gro u p s in rural society gain access to the pro d u cts of o th ers' labour, based on their differential control over production resources. This m ay include inequalities in access to land, d rau g h t anim als, m eans of tran sp o rt, credit, a n d so on. These changes are th u s essentially q u alitativ e rath er th a n qu an titativ e. T hey involve changes in the form o r at least in the function of pro d u ctio n relations. They can occur in expanding, stagnating, or declining ru ral econom ies (20.).
T u rto n (1989) w arns ab o u t the d an g ers of sim plifying the d ifferentiation process and applying categories of unity and solidarity, which, although com m only used in the political discourse are problem atic for an analysis of agrarian trends. The category "one nation" or "one people" subsum es the distinctions of regional identities. Similarly, the category "villagers" connotes an undifferentiated u n ity of com m unities. O th er categories such as sm all farm er, landow ner, tenant, w age labourer, and the rural poor need to be exam ined for their problem atic assum ptions. The m ain aspect of ag rarian change is one of differentiation, in w hich "m an y d iv isio n s have b een created ... w hich fragm ent a n d cross-cut lines of class, com m unity, and household" (75). An individual producer m ay be sim ultaneously landow ner, share-cropper, w aged w orker, hirer of labour, and so on (75).
Rural poverty
Cham bers (1983) recom m ends a "balanced pluralist approach" for the stu d y of a g ra rian change, especially w h e n ap p lied to the em ergence o r sp read of ru ra l poverty. The m any causes of ru ral poverty suggest an empirical study w ith a w ide
sp an in b o th political economy and physical ecology.
Political econom ists conceive of rural poverty in term s of econom ic forces, social relations, property rights, a n d pow er. Rural poverty is a consequence of processes w hich concentrate w ealth and pow er. These processes operate at three levels: in tern atio n ally through neo-colonialist form s of unequal exchange w hich w ork in favour of the w orld's core economies; internally, as the u rb an m iddle-class exploits the ru ral producers th ro u g h unfair trading; and w ith in ru ral areas, as the elites consolidate their pow er a n d w ealth (37). To political econom ists, m o d em technology and commercialization of relations of production play an im portant role in these processes. Both concentrate w ealth in the hands of the privileged ru ral in h ab itan ts, w ho have access to credit, lan d , technical assistance, an d m ark et inform ation. Both destroy the livelihoods of peasants and artisans at the sam e tim e as they w eaken the traditions of responsibility an d sharing (38).
P hysical ecologists, on th e o th er h a n d , m ainly n a tu ra l scien tists a n d practitioners, explain rural poverty in terms of physical and biological factors. They cite p o p u latio n grow th and p ressu res on resources and environm ent as the m ain causes of poverty. U ncontrolled population grow th and uncontrolled exploitation of n a tu ra l resources combine in a vicious circle of rural poverty. O ther factors w o rse n th e situ atio n : the p h y sic al w eak n ess of the ru ra l p o o r cau sed by m aln u tritio n an d diseases; n atu ral disasters— floods, droughts, cyclones; w ars an d persecution of rural refugees (39).
Each of these tw o realm s of co nceptualization on its o w n p ro v id es a partial—an d incom plete—explanation of rural poverty. W hen com bined, how ever, th ey p ro v id e the basis for a so u n d analytical fram ew ork to in v estig ate the tra n s fo rm a tio n o f ru ra l so c ie ty a n d its n a tu ra l e n v iro n m e n t. A fu ll conceptualization of agrarian change, how ever, yet requires a th ird elem ent: the local culture, the ensem ble of cu ltu ral practices of natural resource use an d ru ral institutions w hich gives a specific case study its urüque character in the greater body of em pirical investigations.
The household economy and the political economy
Blaikie (1985) em phasizes the fact th at there can be no single theoretical c o n c e p tu a liz a tio n of e n v iro n m e n ta l d e g r a d a tio n a n d a s s o c ia te d r u r a l transform ation. There is, instead a w ide variety of social an d physical contexts in w hich such a transform ation occurs. A thorough study of agrarian change requires to integrate analytically physical and socio-economic factors, an d local an d external concerns (80-1). A "b o tto m -u p " analytical a p p ro a ch sta rts w ith the sm allest d ecisio n -m ak in g u n it w h ich uses lan d . T his w ill n o rm ally be a h o u se h o ld c o n stitu tin g a n uclear or extended fam ily or p asto ral gro u p . This u n it is the sm allest one w h ich collectively m akes d ecisio n s a b o u t p riv a te ly c o n tro lle d resources (labour, land). It is necessary at this analytical stage to investigate the decision process w ithin the household an d to exam ine the division of labour, the d istribution of profits, an d inequalities betw een genders. It is im portant to recognize th at a specific in d iv id u al m ay be involved in a m ultiplicity of econom ic relations w ith others^. A full investigation of the household econom y sh o u ld also include n o n -a g ric u ltu ra l a c tiv itie s, in c lu d in g te m p o ra ry m ig ra tio n to c ities, a n d participation in inform al and rem ittance econom ies (82-3). Rigg (1997) em phasizes th a t a t th e fu n ctio n al level the h o u se h o ld is socially ra th e r th a n sp a tia lly constructed. It includes all the people w ho participate in the reproduction of the household, even those w ho live live a great pro p o rtio n of their tim e in u rb an areas (161-2). Rigg, nevertheless, regards the household as a "fractious social u n it." All m em bers are n o t necessarily equal m em bers, "subsum ed w ithin and driven by one household-determ ined ethic, and bound together by necessity an d by kinship" (162). The concept of "household strategy" m ay thus be generally inadequate (162).
4 For example, a "marginal peasant" male "may be involved in tenancy, debt, and wage relations with various others. He may work all year-round as subsistence farmer on his owned or tenanted plots and seasonally as a wage labourer on another farm or in a town nearby. He may hire one or several workers on som e of his owned plots at peak agricultural times. He may be subjected to formal and informal exactions by various village and state officials" (White 1989:21).
The next analytical step is to exam ine the political and economic structures influencing households' economic decisions. Taylor and Adelman (1996) point out the difficulty of studying households as isolated economic units. Complex linkages exist am ong household-farm s w ithin villages an d betw een villages and the outside w orld (3). A t the local level, village councils m ay play an im portant role in overall land use, deploym ent of labour, and fee im position. A w ider concern will include the n atio n al and international pow er stru ctu res. At governm ent level, "the state m u st be recognized as political rather th a n n eu tral in the course of its executive pow er" (Blaikie 1985: 85). As such, it form s a pow erful and coherent set of economic interests. Officials are in a privileged position to gain access to land, secure credit at favourable rates of interest, obtain m onopolies in im port and export businesses, and so on. At the local level, governm ent officials are likely to be engaged in a "web of social an d economic relationships" w ith villagers (86). They will both provide local resid en ts w ith access to governm ent services (land-use perm its, credit, m arket inform ation) and rely on them for econom ic perks. The analysis of relationships w ith in the governm ent hierarchy m ust th en be linked to an analysis of relations betw een national and foreign economic an d political interests (87).
In sum , agrarian change can be analyzed in "a framework of Chinese boxes", each fitting inside the other—"the in dividual w ithin the household, the household itself, the local community, the local bureaucracy, the state bureaucracy, an d finally in tern atio n al relations" (88).
Human ecology
Rambo (1983) points out the advantages of the hum an ecology perspective, or the stu d y of hum an interactions w ith th e envirorunent. In particular, the system s m odel of h u m an ecology represents a pow erful analytical tool to investigate the d y n am ic relationships b etw een people a n d environm ent. It assum es th a t tw o integral system s, the social system an d the ecosystem , interact w ith one another by exchanging energy, m aterials, and inform ation. A social system is com posed of a
h u m a n p o p u la tio n to g eth er w ith its technology, c u ltu ra l v alu es, an d social institutions. An ecosystem is composed of physical and biotic com ponents. D uring exchange, b oth sy stem s change th eir internal configuration according to their internal dynamics. This approach has been successfully em ployed to investigate the im pact of p o p ulation pressure on a m arginal environm ent (Le T rong Cue, Gillogly, and Rambo 1990; Le T rong Cue and Rambo 1993). In general, the system s m odel is too com plex to be u sed as an operational research m odel. H ow ever, it can offer specific guidelines for the design of research procedures by revealing the areas of interactions b etw een h u m an social system s and ecosystem s w hich are especially significants (Rambo 1983:29; Beebe 1995:43).
Ethnography
The system s m odel suggests the need for a holistic approach to field study. The im portance of such an approach is underscored by Hirsch (1990) in the study of village life. H irsc h 's m ethodological fram ew ork assum es th e in d iv isib ility of peasan t livelihood in w hich production, consum ption, health, education, debt, and so on are intim ately connected. A stu d y should therefore not lim it itself to a single w e ll-d e fin e d a sp e c t o f village life. A th o ro u g h u n d e rs ta n d in g of ru ra l tran sfo rm atio n req u ires consideration of p easan t p ro d u ctio n u n se p ara ted from consum ption an d other aspects of social and economic life (5). Hickey (1993) adds s u p p o rt to this p ersp ectiv e. In u p lan d com m unities, especially, people have developed "a sociocultural system w hich is optim ally ad ap ted to their ecological situation. They see this ecological niche as a place in w hich a total style of life— including religious, political, an d economic dim ensions—has been w o rk ed
5 In connection with the systems model. Chambers (1983) recommends the use of Rapid Rural Appraisal techniques (RRA) for studies which are part of rural development projects or policy impact assessment. These approaches avoid both the "shaJlowness of rushed rural development tourism" and the impracticality of lengthy academic investigations. These techniques take on various forms, including searching for existing information; learning from key informants; practicing direct observation, and conducting individual and group interviews with informal or selected groups (201-9).
