Showing papers in "European Journal of East Asian Studies in 2004"
TL;DR: In this article, a content analysis of Vietnamese newspapers over a ten-year period was conducted to measure and explain provincial autonomy in Vietnam during the reform era, arguing that the absence of an effective measure of autonomy to date has limited the scope for developing an overarching theory capable of explaining autonomy across a range of settings.
Abstract: The article seeks to measure and explain provincial autonomy in Vietnam during the reform era, arguing that the absence of an effective measure of autonomy to date has limited the scope for developing an overarching theory capable of explaining autonomy across a range of settings The article pioneers a method for measuring autonomy involving a content analysis of Vietnamese newspapers over a ten-year period, noting whenever provinces are reported for engaging in a series of carefully defined autonomous acts Having developed the measure of autonomy, the article seeks to test four hypotheses for explaining it, namely geographical location, relations with central government, initial conditions on the eve of reform, and the dominant source of economic activity in terms of ownership The article finds that no single factor accounts for autonomy on its own but also that there is only a weak relationship between autonomy and a province's geographical location and that provinces heavily represented in central government tend to be among the least autonomous
27 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine the role of local administrators in the reality of illegal construction in Hanoi and examine the irrationality of the housing regime that led to widespread offences against construction rules and then show why and how local administrators may or may not enforce rules.
Abstract: In the drama of negotiation of state boundaries, the role of local administrators as mediators is indispensable. They mediate between state demands for more discipline and societal demands for more liberties. Their ability and willingness to enforce determines the extent of state power. They are a particular type of elites chosen by the state to administer; yet often they have an irrational and morally corrupt relationship with their subjects. The questions that arise then are: When do the local administrators decide to or not to enforce the rules? What considerations do they hold in the face of contradicting demands for their loyalties? This paper seeks answers to the above questions by examining state enforcement of its construction rules in Hanoi after 1975, in which the ward, a level of local administrators in the urban administration landscape, plays an important role in holding up (or letting down) the fences. I will examine the irrationality of the housing regime that led to widespread offences against construction rules, and then show why and how local administrators may or may not enforce rules. This paper comprises two parts. The first part outlines the nature and history of the housing regime in Vietnam and the situation of state provision of housing to the people. These provide the context in which illegal construction arises. Part Two looks at illegal construction in Hanoi chronologically, and focuses on important episodes. The theme that runs through this paper is the role of local administrators in the reality of illegal construction.
26 citations
TL;DR: In the late 1930s a political style, generally called 'fascist', aimed at mobilising nations in the pursuit of expansionist aims had a profound impact around the world as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: During the late 1930s a political style, generally called 'fascist,' aimed at mobilising nations in the pursuit of expansionist aims had a profound impact around the world. Based on the apparent success of Germany, Italy, and Japan and the impending victory of Francisco Franco's forces in the Spanish Civil War, by early 1939 many observers saw fascism as the wave of the future. Among the Asian political leaders strongly influenced by the success of the fascist states was Phibun Songkhram, the military strongman of Thailand, the lone independent nation in Southeast Asia. Phibun and his adviser Wichit Wathakan promoted a jingoistic version of Thai nationalism, sought to militarise the nation, and adopted an aggressive policy towards neighbouring French Indochina in the wake of France's defeat in June 1940. In the short term these actions gave momentum to Phibun's efforts to consolidate his power and his plans to transform Thai society. Phibun's involvement with Japan and the arrival of Japanese troops in Thailand in December 1941, however, would lead to his temporary political eclipse in 1944 and modification of the more extreme elements of his program.
20 citations
TL;DR: This paper studied the life and socio-cultural works of Nguyen Van Vinh in order to understand better the complexity of 'colonial modernity' in Vietnam, and provided a revealing example of the colonial origins of the Francophonie policy in Vietnam that began long before French decolonisation.
Abstract: This article studies the life and socio-cultural works of Nguyen Van Vinh in order to understand better the complexity of 'colonial modernity' in Vietnam. Vinh saw in an alliance with colonial France the chance to modernise Vietnam in Western ways. Thanks to his translations and his essays on Vietnamese society and culture, he helped open the way to a larger cultural revolution in the 1930s. It was a way of dealing with the humiliation of colonial domination and a way of putting Vietnam back on a civilisational par with the rest of the 'modern' world. At the same time, Nguyen Van Vinh served as a powerful propaganda tool for the colonial state in its attempts to cut off Vietnam from her Asian context and ally her closely with colonial France through the Vietnamese language. Indeed, Nguyen Van Vinh provides a revealing example of the colonial origins of the Francophonie policy in Vietnam that began long before French decolonisation.
9 citations
TL;DR: The authors focused on a pervasive strand of thinking on women's public education during the Qing and early years of the Republic which sought to reconfigure traditional virtues and skills in the cause of family harmony, social order and national prosperity.
Abstract: This paper focuses on a pervasive strand of thinking on women's public education during the last years of the Qing and early years of the Republic which sought to reconfigure traditional virtues and skills in the cause of family harmony, social order and national prosperity. A study of this 'modernising conservative' discourse on women's education and its critique of the behaviour and attitudes of female students also provides an insight into how female students themselves responded to the new educational opportunities available to them.
7 citations
TL;DR: The authors examines the reasons for Japan's interest in these areas, and the arguments used to justify this expansionism, and concludes that Mongol nationalism was drawn into these affairs and was justified by an academic discourse on geopolitics.
Abstract: The northernmost border of Japan's informal empire were the Mongol lands and Manchuria. For nearly a century this region lay on the borders between an expanding Russia and a retreating China and was a major area for Japanese ambitions on the Asian mainland. Japan's interest in the Mongol lands (including Manchuria) was spurred by general strategic, economic and ideological factors, and was justified by an academic discourse on geopolitics. Geo-political socialisation was carried out in respective areas and Mongol nationalism was drawn into these affairs. This paper examines the reasons for Japan's interest in these areas, and the arguments used to justify this expansionism.
4 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the role of district government in agricultural development in Vietnam's Long An province from 1954 to the present is explored and it is argued that it is only in the reform era that the district has begun to realise its potential as a 'transmission belt' between the higher authorities and the grassroots.
Abstract: This article explores the role of district government in agricultural development in Vietnam's Long An province from 1954 to the present. It argues that it is only in the reform era that the district has begun to realise its potential as a 'transmission belt' between the higher authorities and the grassroots. Under the South Vietnamese regime and in the pre-reform era of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, local initiative was stifled as policy was dictated from on high by central government, with disastrous consequences. In the reform era, district officials have been joined by 'associates of the state', such as agricultural extension officers, to develop innovative 'local' approaches to agricultural development. This has led to increased prosperity but also rising inequality. While the central government has been more willing to allow local experimentation under reform, its influence and interests are still felt, even at the district level. Most scholars emphasise a sharp break between pre-1975 and post-1975 Vietnam. By contrast, this article highlights the way in which there are important elements of continuity both between regimes and between the pre-reform and post-reform eras.
4 citations
TL;DR: In this article, an assessment of the bosei hogo ronsō (the controversy over the protection of motherhood) which developed between 1916 and 1919 among four female protagonists (Hiratsuka Raicho, Yosano Akiko, Yamakawa Kikue and Yamada Waka) is presented.
Abstract: This article is an assessment of the bosei hogo ronsō (the controversy over the protection of motherhood) which developed between 1916 and 1919 among four female protagonists—Hiratsuka Raichō, Yosano Akiko, Yamakawa Kikue and Yamada Waka. It describes the origin and development of the controversy in the light of international and domestic social and political changes affecting women in Japan in the 1910s. It examines each protagonist's views on the rights and wrongs of the state protecting motherhood, and compares their positions. It also discusses the influence which Western feminists such as Olive Schreiner and Ellen Key had on the debate, and the conclusion which the debate reached. The article finally reviews the achievements and limitations of this key debate, and assesses the impact the controversy had on the Japanese women's movement.
4 citations
TL;DR: The authors examines the strategic framework of action of Subhas Chandra Bose for the liberation of India and how his ideas about international collaboration for the overthrow of British imperialism took shape despite the constraints and limitations imposed by the existing framework of the national moment as conceived by Gandhi and the restrictions imposed by colonial rulers.
Abstract: This paper examines the strategic framework of action of Subhas Chandra Bose for the liberation of India and how his ideas about international collaboration for the overthrow of British imperialism took shape despite the constraints and limitations imposed by the existing framework of the national moment as conceived by Gandhi and the restrictions imposed by the colonial rulers. An attempt is made in this paper to analyse how his collaboration with Japan directly or indirectly accelerated the pace of nationalism during and after the Second World War.
4 citations
TL;DR: The starting point for this collection of articles was the Third Internationala tional Convention of Asian Scholars (ICAS3), which was held in Sin gapore in August 2003 as discussed by the authors. But the focus of the call for papers was on local politics in Vietnam: central regulation or local control, and contributors to the panel were asked to explore the way in which local politicians mediate the conflicting pressures of central and local, how they win space for themselves, and when they bow to cen tral government and do not.
Abstract: The starting point for this collection of articles was the Third Interna tional Convention of Asian Scholars (ICAS3), which was held in Sin gapore in August 2003. Through the original call for papers, which was entitled 'Local Politics in Vietnam: Central Regulation or Local Control', contributors to the panel were asked to explore the way in which local politicians mediate the conflicting pressures of central and local, how they win space for themselves, and when they bow to cen tral government and when they do not.1 Underpinning the call for papers was a view, held by this author, that the pendulum had swung too far in terms of a tendency in Vietnam studies to emphasise decentralisation, regional autonomy, localism or local control—to cite the most common ways in which the perceived power of those operating beyond central government is referred to. There are a number of possible reasons why this situation may have arisen but whatever the reasons, decentralisation seems to be fashionable.2 Not to emphasise it risks being accused of naivety, or forgetting the wide gulf which exists between law, or the official statement of things, and reality. One Vietnam scholar of considerable pedigree, the late Douglas Pike, once likened what he referred to as 'geographic regionalism' to caste in India, arguing that one simply cannot understand Vietnamese politics without reference to it.3 Here, clearly was a lesson for the less experienced scholar: neglect regionalism at your peril.
2 citations
TL;DR: In the mid 1930s, as southward advancement thought was on the rise in Japan, there was a rapidly emerging sense shared by the Taiwan Colonial Government, the military authorities, and Japanese residents in Taiwan that colonised Taiwan should play a more positive role in Japan's southward advance as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: In the mid 1930s, as southward advancement thought was on the rise in Japan, there was a rapidly emerging sense shared by the Taiwan Colonial Government, the military authorities, and Japanese residents in Taiwan that colonised Taiwan should play a more positive role in Japan's southward advance. This paper examines the background of the emergence of this advocacy of southward advance in Taiwan during the 1930s and its development during the ten years preceding the Japanese defeat in the Pacific War. In this examination, I draw attention not only to the predilections of the Taiwan Colonial Government, the Taiwan Army, and Japanese residents but also to the mechanism through which the colonised Taiwanese were integrated into the southward advance, and finally I compare the relationships of those three actors and the southern region (nanpo).
TL;DR: This paper argued that the People's Republic of China used Hong Kong's reversion in 1997, a reluctant project at first, as an opportunity to articulate its national aspirations in the post-Mao era.
Abstract: This article argues that the People's Republic of China used Hong Kong's reversion in 1997, a reluctant project at first, as an opportunity to articulate its national aspirations in the post-Mao era. Of special interest is the shift of the Chinese view of Hong Kong from one of ideological degradation to one of kinder, gentler and more contextualized appreciation. Chinese attempts to refashion Hong Kong's image in the 1980s and 1990s attested to two salient features of Deng Xiaoping's reform regime: the decline of Marxist ideology and the resurgence of nationalism.