Since the mid-1980s, Vietnam has experienced remarkable economic, political, and social change. This is the first study in English to focus on rural Vietnamwhere nearly 80 percent of Vietnam's people live, much of its economic production occurs, and political upheavals earlier this century changed the course of history.Analyzing the impact of economic liberalization on the countryside, the contributors note that despite significant improvements in real income for most rural Vietnamese, poverty is still pronounced and socioeconomic inequality appears to be growing. The poorest now appear to...