RESETTLEMENT, DISPLACEMENT AND AGRARIAN CHANGE IN NORTHERN UPLANDS OF VIETNAM NGA THI VIET DAO A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY GRADUATE PROGRAM IN GEOGRAPHY YORK UNIVERSITY TORONTO, ONTARIO July 2012 ©Nga Dao2012 Library and Archives Bibliotheque et Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du 1+1 Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-92814-1 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-92814-1 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par I'lnternet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distrbute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non­ support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. 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Canada ABSTRACT The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the pivotal ways in which water- related development projects shape interrelated processes of agrarian change. It looks at the politics surrounding dam building in Vietnam, the relationship between the state and ethnic minority people in resources use, and the ways ethnic minorities/resettlers in the vicinity of dams have experienced and responded to changes in their everyday lives - their political and livelihoods responses. Drawing on theories of development, ethnic identity, and state power and resource management in the uplands of Southeast Asia, this research has three aims. The first aim is to understand the state’s motivation and logic behind dam construction. The second aim is to investigate the dam planning process, and to explore how international standards on good dam practices are taken into account, as well as how upland people respond to these decisions. Finally, the third aim is to examine how the process of negotiation of the resettlement projects reconfigured livelihoods in the Northwest. The research found that damming rivers for power generation in Vietnam spoke to relationships between center and periphery, highlands and lowlands, ethnic majority and minority peoples. Ethnic minority people have long been considered as undeveloped and have been targets for development. However, development-induced displacement has had major effects on inhabitants in the vicinity of dam sites, transforming social, cultural and agrarian landscapes of the region at different scales. Despite the government’s attempt to improve its policies, there have still been no clear guidelines on how to implement ‘good practices’ of hydropower construction. And at the same time, improvements in policy have not always brought positive changes on the ground. The research also highlights the fact that upland peasants/resettlers were not passive victims of the state development projects but, rather, actively fought for their survival and autonomy. Their responses were in a multitude of forms, ranging from coping strategies to opposition resistance against the state development apparatus. Besides struggle between the state as patron and its clients, and between the powerful and the powerless, there was also struggle among the powerless, at either individual or collective levels. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to thank Peter Vandergeest and Robin Roth, my committee co-chairs, for their guidance in the development of my academic work at York, for their inspiration and encouragement, and for their thorough feedback throughout my research and the writing process. I thank Libby Lunstrum, my committee member, for her helpful advice, valuable insights and useful suggestions for organizing my work. This dissertation would also never have been done without the help and assistance of my friends and colleagues in Vietnam and the people whom I interviewed there. I thank Tien and her family, and thank other villagers for their hospitality during my stay. I also thank my friend Steve Coffin for helping me with language editing. Last but not least, I would like to express my deep thanks to my family: my parents, my husband, my daughter Linh San and my son Mike for their unending support and love, and for bearing with me in this long process. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT................................................................................................................ ii PROLOGUE............................................................................................................... xi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK................1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................1 Theoretical Framework.................................................................................................8 Development theory ...............................................................................................9 Ethnic identity, state power and resource management in the uplands of Southeast Asia..................................................................... 27 Summary..............................................................................................................32 Organization of the Dissertation .................................................................................33 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................36 CHAPTER 2: REFLEXIVITY AND METHODOLOGIES.....................................37 Biography and Research Subjectivity ........................................ 38 Politics of doing research and subjectivity ..........................................................38 Biography .............................................................................................................40 In the field ........................................................................................................... 42 Study sites ...................................................................................................................50 Research Design.........................................................................................................59 Stage 1: Organizing research ..............................................................................61 Stage 2: doing research .......................................................................................65 Stage 3: Data analysis and writing......................................................................82 Final remarks.......................................................................................................83 CHAPTER 3: DAM CONSTRUCTION IN VIETNAM: POLITICS AND DRIVING FORCE BEHIND IT.................................................................................85 Introduction .................................................................................................................85 Dam Development in Vietnam ...................................................................................88 iv What do the dams standfor?.............................................. 88 Politics o f dam development and river basin management in Vietnam...............91 Hydropower - savior for energy demand, symbol for development or something else?.................................................................................................... 108 Social responses to dam building...................................................................... 112 The Son La dam planning ..................................................................................124 Constraints remain............................................................................................128 Resettlement policy for the Son La dam project ................................................ 132 The resulting gap between planning and implementation .................................139 Conclusion ................................................................................................................143 CHAPTER 4: STATE AND ETHNIC MINORITY RELATIONSJN THE DAMMING OF THE NORTHWEST UPLANDS................................... 146 Ethnicity and Relations between the State