The poetry written by combat veterans and other witnesses to the Vietnam War is a testament to what they saw and felt in Southeast Asia. Through their poetry they build 'monuments' to their traumatic experience, piecing together memories in order to heal themselves and teach future generations about the horrors of Vietnam. These poems function in much the same way as the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., both poem and Memorial requiring the effort of the 'reader' in order to propagate the legacy of the Vietnam War. By bearing witness to the Vietnam experience, the poem and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial facilitate questions; questions through which the reader and the visitor are able to construct their own imaginary monuments to the Vietnam War.

The local livelihood systems of Tam Giang Lagoon, Central Vietnam have shifted since the policy changes of 1986. Aquaculture has replaced capture fishing as the most important livelihood activity in the lagoon. Aquaculture is governed by both customary and legal access rights. The move from a centrally-planned (collectivization) economy to a market-oriented economy in conjunction with the development of the aquaculture sector has had significant impacts. This change has reduced the available lagoon areas for mobile-gear fishers, polarized different user-groups, and raised the issue of resource access inequity. The overarching objective of this thesis is to understand the complexity and influence of property rights on local livelihood systems; specifically: (1) to examine changes in resource access and various types of resource use in the lagoon; (2) to analyse the effects of aquaculture and changes in resource access on local livelihood systems; and (3) to assess the resilience of livelihood systems and identify the essential elements that contribute to resilience in livelihood systems. Qualitative and quantitative research methods were used for data collection. Sixty-five semi-structured interviews were conducted and fourteen households were selected for an additional in-depth livelihood analysis. Focus group discussions were one of the most important methods used for data collection. Fifteen formal focus groups and several informal discussions were organized. Both types of focus groups were used in conjunction with a number of participatory methods, such as seasonal calendar, participatory mapping, and well-being ranking. The field work was conducted over twenty-nine months between December, 2005 and April, 2008. The research examined the evolution of property rights and the complexity of resource access in Thuy Dien village. The research investigated seven types of resource use which are associated with “bundles of rights” and discussed the dynamics of property rights governed by both laws and customs. De jure and de facto rights were classified in different time periods by using Schlager and Ostrom’s framework. By applying a sustainable livelihood framework, the research presented overview of livelihood systems and discussed the influence of property rights on household livelihoods. Households in the village were classified into four groups: (1) earth pond, (2) net-enclosure; (3) mobile fishing; and (4) non-fishing households. Attention was paid to the disparity between these household types in term of livelihood strategies and opportunities for livelihood development. The research applied a resilience approach to the analysis of the local livelihood systems. Resilience is an inherent attribute of sustainable livelihood systems because it implies the flexibility and availability of options. If resilience is lost, livelihood systems may cross a threshold and shift to a different regime or alternative equilibrium. In Tam Giang Lagoon, a shift to a different regime seemed to have occurred over the last two decades.

This research examines the interrelationships between tourism, poverty alleviation, and social marketing. It argues that tourism growth is necessary but insufficient by itself to alleviate poverty. Although tourism has often been connected with poverty under the rubric of pro-poor tourism (PPT), limited research has investigated this from the poor’s perspective. Little is also known of various poverty causes, including poor people’s behaviours in affecting poverty. Although tourism may contribute to alleviating poverty, negative poverty-related behaviours (e.g. depletion of natural resources) are still found in some host destinations. Where behaviour change is considered significant for tourism to help alleviate poverty, social marketing may be important given its potential in motivating voluntary behaviour change. This is particularly necessary for a developing country such as Vietnam, where tourism is encouraged for poverty alleviation. The district of Sapa, Vietnam is chosen as a case study area, which has substantial levels of poverty although tourism has developed for years. This research seeks to answer four main questions: What are the barriers to poverty alleviation identified by PPT projects in Vietnam? What are the roles of social marketing in PPT projects in Vietnam? What are the barriers to poverty alleviation identified by PPT projects as perceived by local people and key informants in Sapa? What are the roles of tourism as a means of poverty alleviation as perceived by the locals in Sapa? This research was designed in two stages. The first involved a content analysis of tourism-related projects in Vietnam, where a systematic search for project documents was conducted. Forty-five projects were found and then analysed against a set of six social marketing benchmark criteria. Twenty-one projects were judged to meet all the criteria, most of which were implemented in national parks (NPs) and nature reserves (NRs) that are home to important resources for tourism. Typical project objectives included preventing or mitigating local people’s dependence on natural resources and promoting tourism as an alternative livelihood. The most popular competing factors identified were local people’s poor perception of conservation needs and traditional dependence on natural resources, stakeholder conflicts, and weak policy implementation. This stage suggested that social marketing might help tourism contribute to natural resource conservation and poverty alleviation. The second stage utilised both qualitative and quantitative methods. Interviews were conducted with 47 poor people and key informants in Sapa. A survey was then administered with 187 local people. It identified that local people perceive poverty as a lack of rice and/or income and attribute it to internal and/or external causes. Tourism holds important potential for poverty alleviation in Sapa. However, this potential is substantially reduced by barriers to business development, employment, and thus benefit distribution within the sector. It is also worsened by the exclusion of poor people from development plans, decision-making processes, and project design and implementation. The non-poor and tour operators are perceived as the main beneficiaries of tourism. Local women often follow tourists to sell handicrafts, resulting in discomfort for tourists and conflicts among community members. More local people consider tourism a contributor to poverty alleviation and wish to participate in tourism. The most critical barriers preventing participation include insufficient knowledge, skills, work experience, funds, and poor foreign language proficiency. Limited capital and farming land is the most important obstacle to poverty alleviation overall. This research suggests that to maintain the long-term viability of tourism in Sapa, social marketing can be used to promote behaviour change in handicraft sellers and forest resource dependents. To this end, alternative livelihoods other than tourism are required. There is a need to put in place a policy framework that entitles poor people to more land in the forest so that they can grow more rice and medicinal fruit and protect their own forestland. Social marketing can also promote changes in the self-interested practices of tourism businesses and relevant forest policies. In addition, an appropriate intervention framework should be established to reduce household sizes and thus mitigate land use pressures. From a local perspective, this research helps planners, managers, and policy-makers in Sapa as well as other similar destinations in Vietnam and elsewhere understand more clearly the barriers to poverty alleviation and the obstacles to poor people’s participation in tourism. It also generates greater awareness among academics and the public in Vietnam regarding the potential of social marketing for alleviating poverty through tourism. On a broader scale, this research enriches and deepens tourism scholars and practitioners’ understanding of the various ways social marketing can help alleviate poverty and protect natural resources. Furthermore, given the centrality of poverty alleviation to the sustainable development agenda, the findings of this research contribute to wider social scientific debate, practical development discourse and, as such, to Vietnam’s society as a whole. This research concludes that only by valuing the perspectives of poor people can meaningful approaches to alleviating poverty through tourism become clearer and more likely to succeed.

The present study addresses abused Vietnamese women’s experience of health, as well as other health problems and family conflicts, while also taking into consideration professional dealings with family violence. Women’s health in everyday life is largely affected when they are exposed to violence by their male partners. Such violence exists in most societies around the world, also in the Vietnamese context, where the official policies focus on gender equality, together with a strong family concept. Thus, the present study aims to contribute to an empirical understanding of the relation between women’s health and violence against women within the family, from three perspectives: That of the society (organisations and professionals), the neighbourhood community (family members and neighbours), and the individuals (the abused women). The thesis is based on three qualitative interview studies. To reach the official Vietnamese society, national organisations working against violence were invited to participate and eleven professionals of different positions were interviewed. The semi-structured interviews were analysed with content analysis. To include the neighbourhood community perspectives on health and conflicts in family life, twenty-two men and women of different ages and backgrounds, but without any known history of abuse, participated in sixteen semi-structured interviews. For the third study twelve abused women presented life-stories through indepth interviews. The interviews of study two and three were analysed using narrative approach. On a professional level, the discussion on violence focus on the abusive men’s violent acts, on how to promote good social relations and how to make people in general recognise violence as a public health problem and value gender equality. In family everyday life, the informants consider women as the main responsible for the family well-being, but find cooperative support necessary in daily life. To adjust family life to social change, and to make everyone feel important, means to avoid boredom or distress are strategies used, since such conditions are considered to cause troubled relations, abuse and suffering. Violence within the family is seen as interpersonal problems where both partners are to blame for family dysfunction. Empathic sentiments, mutual support and communication are means to handle problems, and a harmonious and happy family is seen as protecting health. The abused women experience vulnerability, which they see as the foremost threat to their health. Injuries as well as worries cause harm. The abused women blame their husbands, for the violence, but they rarely confront them. Instead they use a number of strategies to handle their situation; through enduring, making their husband’s face others judgements, or divorce. They see violence as part of an everyday life of hardship, and consider that bearing too many troubles harms their health. A coherent approach between the different perspectives is needed if the abused women and their families will have a possibility to experience health. The professionals need to consider both public equality policies and the individuals’ experience of vulnerability. The abused women, and abusive men, would benefit from a neighbourhood community that is open to individual failure but still supportive and encouraging. To experience health this study found that it matters what position a person has, what expectations and judgement a person face, how well a person can manage her obligations, and what room for action she possesses. / Studien fokuserar på vietnamesiska kvinnors hälsa, om de utsatts för våld i hemmet, samt närliggande hälsoproblem och familjekonflikter. Studien behandlar också professionellas hanterande av våld i familjen. Kvinnors hälsa och vardagsliv försämras av att de utsätts för våld från sina manliga partner. Detta våld återfinns i de flesta av världens länder, så också i Vietnam, som dock är ett land med starkt politiskt och officiellt fokus på jämställdhet, samtidigt som man värnar om familjen som enhet och begrepp. Därför är syftet för denna studie att bidra till en empirisk förståelse av relationen mellan kvinnors hälsa och våld mot kvinnor inom familjen, från tre perspektiv: samhällets (professionella organisationer), grannskapets (familjemedlemmar och grannar) samt individernas (de våldsutsatta kvinnorna). Studien baseras på tre kvalitativa delstudier. För att söka förstå det vietnamesiska samhället, inbjöds nationella organisationer som arbetar mot våld att delta, och elva professionella på olika positioner intervjuades. De semi-strukturerade intervjuerna analyserades med innehållsanalys. För att nå grannskapets perspektiv på hälsa och konflikter i familjelivet, intervjuades 22 män och kvinnor av olika åldrar och bakgrunder, utan känd våldshistorik inom familjen. De deltog i 16 semistrukturerade intervjuer. I den tredje delstudien intervjuades 12 våldsutsatta kvinnor genom att de presenterade sina livshistorier. Studie två och tre analyserades narrativt. På den professionella nivån rör diskussionen om våld de våldsutövande männens handlingar, hur man ska främja goda sociala relationer och hur man ska få allmänheten att förstå våld som en folkhälsofråga och värdera jämställdhet. I familjernas vardagsliv ser informanterna kvinnan som ansvarig för familjens välbefinnande, men samarbete och stöd som nödvändigt i familjelivet. För att anpassa familjelivet efter sociala förändringar, och att få alla att känna sig betydelsefulla i familjen, anses det nödvändigt att undvika tristess och leda. Anpassning till samhällets förändring och att främja familjens välbefinnande ses som strategier för att hantera problematiska relationer, konflikter, våld och lidande. Våld inom familjen anses vara ett interpersonellt problem, där båda parter bär skulden för familjens dysfunktion. Empati, ömsesidigt stöd och kommunikation är verktyg för att hantera problem, och en harmonisk och lycklig familj anses främja hälsan. De våldsutsatta kvinnorna upplever sårbarhet, vilket de ser som det främsta hotet mot sin hälsa. Såväl kroppsskador som oro försämrar kvinnornas situation. De våldsutsatta kvinnorna lägger skulden på sina män för våldet, men de konfronterar dem sällan. Istället använder de sig av strategier för att hantera sin situation: genom att uthärda, få maken att möta andras fördömanden, eller skilsmässa. De ser våldet som en del av ett vardagsliv fyllt av svårigheter, och anser att bördan av för många problem är det som skadar deras hälsa. Ett samordnat tillvägagångssätt mellan de olika samhällsnivåernas perspektiv behövs om de våldsutsatta kvinnorna och deras familjer ska ha en möjlighet att uppleva hälsa. De professionella behöver beakta såväl jämställdhetspolicyer som individers upplevelse av sårbarhet. De våldsutsatta kvinnorna, och våldsutövande männen, skulle gagnas av en grannskapsgemenskap som är öppen för individuella misslyckanden, men ändå stödjande och uppmuntrande. Denna studie visar att för att uppleva hälsa är det av betydelse vilken social position personen har, vilka förväntningar och bedömningar en person möter, hur väl hon kan hantera sina åtaganden, och vilket handlingsutrymme hon besitter.

Background: In Vietnam, problems of high out-of-pocket payments for health, leading to catastrophic health expenditure and resulting impoverishment for vulnerable groups, has been at focus in the past decades. Since the beginning of the 1990’s, the Vietnamese government has launched a series of social health insurance reforms to increase prepayment in the health sector and thereby better protect the population from the financial consequences of health problems. Objective: The objective of this thesis is to contribute to the discussion in Vietnam on how large the problems of catastrophic health expenditure are in the population as a whole and in a special subgroup; the elderly households, and to assess important aspects on health insurance as a means to reduce the problems. Methods: Catastrophic health expenditure has been estimated, using an established and common method, from two different data sources; the Epidemiological Field Laboratory for Health Systems Research (FilaBavi) in the Bavi district, and Vietnam Household Living Standards Survey (VHLSS) 2010. Results from two cross-sectional analyses and a panel study have been compared, to gain information on whether the estimates of catastrophic health spending may be overestimated when using cross-sectional data. Then, the size of the problem for one group, the elderly households; hypothesized to be particularly vulnerable in this context, has been estimated. The question of to what extent a health insurance reform; the Health Care Funds for the Poor (HCFP), has offered protection for the insured against health spending is being assessed in another study over the period 2001 – 2007, using propensity score matching. The value that households attach to health insurance has also been explored through a willingness to pay (WTP) study. Results: Comparing results from two cross-sectional studies with a panel study over a full year in which the respondents were interviewed once every month, the estimates of catastrophic spending vary largely. The monthly estimates in the panels study are half as large as the cross-sectional estimates; the latter also having a recall period of one month. Among the elderly households, catastrophic health spending and impoverishment are found to be problems three times as large as for the whole population. However, household health care expenditure as a percentage of total household expenditure was affected by the HCFP, and significantly reduced for the insured. In the study of household WTP for health insurance, it was iiifound that households attach a low value to this insurance form; WTP being only half of household health expenditure. Conclusions: Cross-sectional studies of catastrophic spending with a monthly recall period are likely to be affected by recall bias leading to overestimations through respondents including expenditure in the period preceding the recall period. However, such problems should not deter researchers form studying this phenomenon. If using the same method, estimates of catastrophic spending and impoverishment can be compared between different groups – as for the elderly households – and over time; e.g. studying the protective capacity of health insurance. It should be used more, not less. The VHLSS rounds offer the Vietnamese a possibility to regularly study this. The HCFP were found to be partly protective but important problems remain to be solved, e.g. the fact that people are reluctant to use their health insurance because of e.g. quality problems and possible discrimination of the insured. The findings of a low WTP for health insurance may be another reflection of this.

No description available.

Using a representative sample of the literature, both fiction and nonfiction, written by former American soldiers and correspondents between the years 1969 and 1981, this study analyzes the literary responses of those Americans most intimately involved in the Vietnam wax. Viewed collectively, these commentaries offer insights into the war that take us beyond its surface history and tend to refute the emerging apologist interpretation. Like the current historical analyses, their central concern is the war's morality and its connection to our national self-concept. They approach the issue, however, from the complex perspective of the writer/participant vividly recreating the actual experience on one level; probing, however unconsciously, its complex moral and metaphysical issues on another. Ultimately this literature is a powerful attack not only on the war in Vietnam but also on the American myths of innocence and mission which underlay it.Chapter one defines some of the major component of the cultural myths that shaped the idealized vision of America that these accounts bring into question. It defines the word myth in a cultural and historical context and examines three revealing works on American culture: R. W. B. Lewis' The American Adam, Ernest Lee Tuveson's Redeemer Nation, and Leo Marx's The Machine in the Garden. In a further attempt to elucidate this cultural mythology, chapter two examines Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.Analyzing content and form, chapters three, four, and five turn to the accounts written by the war's participants and observers. Using selected nonfiction accounts of the war that deal with the reactions of myriad participants and observers--Gloria Emerson's Winners and Losers, Michael Herr's Dispatches, Mark Baker's Nam, and Al Santoli's Everything We Had--chapter three defines and documents this war's wound. Chapter four analyzes two fictional accounts of the war, Gustav Hasford's The Short-Timers and Robert Stone's Dog Soldiers, and examines their relationship to the themes and techniques used by classic American writers to probe the underside of the American experience. Chapter five examines Ron Kovic's Born on the Fourth of July and Tim O'Brien's Going After Cacciato, which attempt to move beyond the war's disillusionment to a "wise accommodation."

Cette thèse étudie le développement des micro entreprises au Vietnam. Nous cherchons d'abord à savoir quels sont les facteurs qui affectent l'offre de travail indépendant sur le marché du travail. En utilisant l'enquête sur le niveau de vie des ménages en 2004 (VHLSS04), enquête dans laquelle les informations sur l'emploi des individus et sur les entreprises familiales sont collectées, nous trouvons qu'un certain nombre de déterminants permettent de décrire le profil des travailleurs indépendants au Vietnam, parmi lesquels la différence de revenu attendu, le niveau d'éducation, l'âge et le secteur d'activité. Dans un deuxième temps, nous tentons d'identifier les déterminants de la performance des micro et petites entreprises. Nos résultats montrent que la hauteur de l'impact de différents caractéristiques des entreprises varie nettement en fonction de leur performance. Parmi ces facteurs, la taille, l'âge et l'emplacement de l'entreprise affectent significativement cette performance. Le troisième chapitre propose une recherche sur l'hétérogénéité des entreprise face à différentes barrières à la croissance. Les données indiquent que le degré de contrainte que les entreprises rencontrent dépend de leurs caractéristiques et de la nature de la barrière. La taille, l'âge, l'emplacement et la branche économique comptent beaucoup dans la détermination du niveau de contrainte.

The dividend payout policy is a very debated topic, in this thesis the differences between Sweden and Vietnam will be examined. By examine two different countries with more or less the same landmass, but regarding economic, culture and politics they differ highly.   The purpose of this study was to determine whether there were a difference between the countries in dividend payout ratios, to see if the countries payout a high or a low dividend during the years 2005 to 2012. The second purpose was to examine if there was a significant differences in the movements in the markets. The third purpose was to examine how the two countries acted during the financial crisis, if the dividend payout ratio changed. This may tell how the policies in the two countries differ and how long term or short term the firms within the countries were planning and which kind of investors they are attracting. The data being used is collected historical data from firms with in each of the countries. The thesis follows a quantitative research method based on a deductive and an inductive approach. The research design is comparative for examination of two the countries data samples and for the purposes descriptive and explanatory studies have been done. In order to determine whether there is a relationship between the countries dividend payout ratio, the normality of the data sample have been examined, showing that the data were not normal distributed. Therefor the data were examined with a Mann- Whitney test and by a Kruskal- Wallis test.   The result indicates that there is a difference between the countries in dividend payout ratios in the case of Vietnam and Sweden under the years 2005 to 2012. Comparing countries together between the years to determine possible differences, the dividend payout ratio was insignificant in 2005 to 2008, but significant in the years 2009 to 2012. The examination of Vietnam and Sweden separately with years as factors the dividend payouts in Vietnam showed a significant difference but an insignificant result in Sweden during the year 2005 to 2008. Further, the results showed that there is a difference between the years in Sweden between 2009 to 2012 but no differences in Vietnam under the same years.

The local livelihood systems of Tam Giang Lagoon, Central Vietnam have shifted since the policy changes of 1986. Aquaculture has replaced capture fishing as the most important livelihood activity in the lagoon. Aquaculture is governed by both customary and legal access rights. The move from a centrally-planned (collectivization) economy to a market-oriented economy in conjunction with the development of the aquaculture sector has had significant impacts. This change has reduced the available lagoon areas for mobile-gear fishers, polarized different user-groups, and raised the issue of resource access inequity. The overarching objective of this thesis is to understand the complexity and influence of property rights on local livelihood systems; specifically: (1) to examine changes in resource access and various types of resource use in the lagoon; (2) to analyse the effects of aquaculture and changes in resource access on local livelihood systems; and (3) to assess the resilience of livelihood systems and identify the essential elements that contribute to resilience in livelihood systems. Qualitative and quantitative research methods were used for data collection. Sixty-five semi-structured interviews were conducted and fourteen households were selected for an additional in-depth livelihood analysis. Focus group discussions were one of the most important methods used for data collection. Fifteen formal focus groups and several informal discussions were organized. Both types of focus groups were used in conjunction with a number of participatory methods, such as seasonal calendar, participatory mapping, and well-being ranking. The field work was conducted over twenty-nine months between December, 2005 and April, 2008. The research examined the evolution of property rights and the complexity of resource access in Thuy Dien village. The research investigated seven types of resource use which are associated with “bundles of rights” and discussed the dynamics of property rights governed by both laws and customs. De jure and de facto rights were classified in different time periods by using Schlager and Ostrom’s framework. By applying a sustainable livelihood framework, the research presented overview of livelihood systems and discussed the influence of property rights on household livelihoods. Households in the village were classified into four groups: (1) earth pond, (2) net-enclosure; (3) mobile fishing; and (4) non-fishing households. Attention was paid to the disparity between these household types in term of livelihood strategies and opportunities for livelihood development. The research applied a resilience approach to the analysis of the local livelihood systems. Resilience is an inherent attribute of sustainable livelihood systems because it implies the flexibility and availability of options. If resilience is lost, livelihood systems may cross a threshold and shift to a different regime or alternative equilibrium. In Tam Giang Lagoon, a shift to a different regime seemed to have occurred over the last two decades.