0 HỘI THẢO
Nghiên cứu cùng cộng đồng: Ứng dụng nhân học trong phát triển ở
vùng dân tộc thiểu số Việt Nam CONFERENCE
Co-research: Applying Anthropology
in Ethnic Minority Development in Vietnam Hà Nội, 01/10/2014

1
CHƯƠNG TRÌNH HỘI THẢO DỰ KIẾN
Nghiên cu cùng cng: ng dng nhân hc trong phát trin  vùng dân tc
thiu s Vit Nam
Thi gian: Ngày 01/10/2014
 t chc: Vin Dân tc hc (Vin Hàn lâm Khoa hc Xã hi Vit Nam)
Vin Nghiên cu Xã hi, Kinh t ng (iSEE)
B môn Nhân hc - i hc Khoa hc Xã h
Thời gian

i biu khác
10:00  10:20
Gii lao

10:20  10:40
Ting nói c i dân và nhng rào
cn trong n lng trách nhim
gii trình: Kinh nghim qua d 
ng trách nhim gi
sóc sc kho sinh sn và k hoch hoá
   vùng dân tc thiu s tnh
ng
ThS. Nguyn Thu Qunh
Vin Khoa Hc Xã Hi Vùng
Trung B, Vin Hàn lâm
Khoa hc Xã hi Vit Nam
10:40  11:10
V  xây dng nim tin và chuyn
giao quyn lc trong nghiên cu cùng
cng: Nghiên cng hp ch
Mông  Sa Pa và ch Ede  Dak Lak
Nhóm nghiên cu cùng cng
ng
Vin Nghiên cu Xã hi,
Kinh t ng

2
11:10  11:50
Tho lun chung
PGS. TS.   c, TS.


15:00  15:20
S dng công c nghiên cng tham
gia (PRA) trong nghiên cu sc khe
sinh thái: Nghiên cng hp v cht
thi nông nghip và cht thi ca ngi
 tnh Hà Nam
TS. Trn Minh Hng
Vin Dân tc hc
15:20  15:40
Nâng quyn cho c ng thiu s
trong xây dng rng cng: Tr li
nhng giá tr rng tâm linh truyn thng
ThS. H Vit Hoàng
Khoa Vit Nam hc,
i hc Ngoi ng Hu
15:40  16:15
Tho lun chung
PGS. TS. Lâm Bá Nam
PGS. TS. Nguyn Th

i biu khác
16:15  16:30
B mc
ThS. Lê Quang Bình
Vin Nghiên cu Xã hi,
Kinh t ng 3

Phenomenological Approaches in
Anthropology
Dr. Nguyc Lc
University of Social Sciences
and Humanities, Vietnam
National University Ho Chi
Minh City
9:25  10:00
General discussion
Dr.  c,
Dr. Hoàng Cm
and other participants
10:00  10:20
Teabreak

10:20  10:40
     
improving accountability: Experiences
of a project to improve the
accountability of reproductive health
and family planning services in ethnic
minority localities of Lam Dong
province.
Nguyn Thu Qunh, MA.
Institute of Social Sciences of
the Central Region, Vietnam
Academy of Social Sciences

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10:40  11:10

Center for Cham Culture
Studies
14:10  14:40
General discussion
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Lâm Bá Nam
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyn Th

and other participants
14:40  15:00
Teabreak

15:00  15:20
Applying participatory rural appraisal
(PRA) tools in ecological health
research: A case study of agricultural
and human waste in Ha Nam province
Dr. Trn Minh Hng
Institute of Anthropology
15:20  15:40
Empowering ethnic minority
communities in community forestry:
Going back to the traditional spiritual
forest values
H Vit Hoàng, MA.
Department of Vietnamese
Studies,
Hue University College of
Foreign Languages
15:40  16:15
General discussion

ThS. Nguyễn Thị Huệ
6. TIP CN VI NG HING HC TRONG NGHIÊN CU NHÂN
HC 69
TS. Nguyễn Đức Lộc
7. MT S KINH NGHIM KHI THC HIN D U TRA SC KHE CA
 75
ThS. Hà Thị Mai
8. MT S KINH NGHIM TRONG NGHIÊN CU CÙNG CI
CHT VÌ MC TIÊU PHÁT TRII 95
PGS.TSKH. Trịnh Thị Kim Ngọc

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9. CI STIÊNG VÀ S PHÁT TRIN BN V-OR,
HUYN BÙ GIA MP, TC T NG TIP CN NHÂN HC
103
TS.Trần Hạnh Minh Phương
10. QUN LÝ RNG CÓ S THAM GIA CA C BN C
TRÀNG, XÃ TRN QUNG NINH, TNH QUNG BÌNH 115
Phan Thanh Quyết, Trần Thế Hùng, Trần Trung Thành
11. TING NÓI CI DÂN VÀ NHNG RÀO CN TRONG N L
NG TRÁCH NHIM GII TRÌNH 125
ThS. Nguyễn Thu Quỳnh
12. MT S QUAN NIM V SC KHA BNHCA
  I GÓC NHÌN NHÂN HC Y T 139
ThS. Nguyễn Thị Tám
13.   C CI THIN CUC SNG CHO CNG DÂN
TC THIU S L 148
ThS. Nguyễn Thị Thịnh
14. NHÌN LI CÁC CHÍNH SÁCH VÀ D ÁN PHÁT TRIN TI LÀNG NGH DT
TRUYN TH M NGHIP: T CÁI NHÌN  BÊN TRONG

II - Research results and practical applications 11
1) SYNTHESIS OF OUR MAIN FINDINGS ON RELEVANT DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITY IN THE
COMMUNE 11
2) HOW TO ACT TOWARDS DEVELOPMENT DYNAMIC IN THIS COMMUNE. A MEDIATING
POSITION BETWEEN THE DIFFERENT ACTORS 12
3) ACT ON WHAT SECTOR? MONITORING, DESIGNING AND GUIDING A TOURISM
DEVELOPMENT PROJECT 12
CONCLUSION 14

Introduction

points       cannot ultimately be used in the design and
implementation of projects.
Anthropologists are often highly critical of the way development operators
implement projects without sufficient knowledge of local conditions, without measuring the
effects of the projects and with a rationale too far removed from the logic of the beneficiaries,
which neither allows for them to solve their problems nor meets their real needs.
In these circumstances, the dialogue is often difficult between development operators
and anthropologists, even though both sides genuinely want to collaborate for the benefit of
the local people. 1
We thank Mr. AlainHenry andtheResearch Departmentof the AFD(FrenchAgency forDevelopment)for their support
ofthis study.

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How then may collaboration be fostered between developers and anthropologists who
aim to benefit so-called "beneficiary" populations? This project is an attempt to build bridges
between anthropological research and development dynamics (projects from outside the

Because all projects are severely constrained by the Terms of Reference (contract
with donors) (Giovalucchi and Olivier de Sardan 2009, Tessier 2007), local project staff will
have to transform the local reality to match the ToR and logical framework or, when this is
not possible, to revise the reports to match the expectations and plans.
The two observations above show that there is often considerable distance between
local realities (complex, articulated, scalable, sometimes unstable) and the project (its 2
Given the direct influence of donors in decision-making and their indirect control over all development actors (policy
areas, formatting logical framework and TOR), it is evidently at their level that a significant part of the project is
carried out.

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objectives, its logic, its constraints and predefined solutions). This distance is both technical
and ideological, it is one of the causes of failure of the implementation of projects. One of the
tasks of anthropology is to study this distance in various specific situations and propose
solutions that might help to reduce it.
c) “First step in the anthropology of development in Vietnam.”
Despite a large number of development projects in Vietnam run mainly by the State
and sometimes by NGOs (eg. more than 20 projects in 15 years in the commune studied,)
there are very few studies of development in Vietnam that are independent of application
projects and the constraints of donors. In this specific context, in comparison with
development studies in Europe, Africa and South America, the anthropology of development
is a discipline that is still to be built in Vietnam (Culas 2010a, 2010b and 2014c).
d) “Anthropology and development: A complicated cooperation”.
Although in discourse, development agencies increasingly recognize that the social
sciences (anthropology and sociology) can play an effective role in projects, they remain
convinced that this research is too expensive (in time and money), and finally that
anthropology is not really useful in designing and managing projects (Olivier de Sardan

project should be considered as additional factors to an existing social balance.
3) Presentation of the project
a) A project is like a test
Our project was born of a bet. We wanted to show that thinking out and building a
development action based on long and rigorous qualitative surveys, without prejudging
shortages or domains of action or intervention methods, and by monitoring its
implementation and initiating a study to include developers and the developed population,
promotes success in terms of local ownership and sustainable improvement of living
conditions. It is also an effective way to limit imbalances induced by an action of external
development.
In order to check, and possibly demonstrate, the value and effectiveness of such an
approach, we have put this into practice in an ethnic commune of northern Vietnam
Our project is deployed in two stages:
- First, study of the whole dynamic of development projects, completed and ongoing,
in the commune, their configurations and logic and the local reactions. In parallel, describe
and analyze the social, cultural, and economic dynamics in agriculture, home economics, the
uses of the forest, environment, relationships with the administration, education, rituals,
social relations, as well as the needs and gaps and the opportunities for local people.
- Then, from this cross-sectional study, determine whether a development
intervention is legitimate and if so, identify the most relevant area of focus, and the terms of
the most appropriate response.
b) Study presentation
This anthropological study was conducted over two years in an ethnic Tay commune
of Lao Cai province in northern Vietnam; there were five Vietnamese researchers from the
department of Anthropology of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities (Vietnam
National University Hanoi) and from the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Lao
Cai province
4
and two French anthropologists
5

It would be beyond the scope of this report to cite all the evidence supporting those
findings. But, local basic needs being generally satisfied, the villagers do not express major
essential problems and require any external intervention to improve their lives. If
there are many forms of economic poverty, the poverty rate is relatively low compared to
other ethnic communes
6
.
In addition, the state already supports a great deal of local development action,
particularly in the areas of infrastructure, water, training and education, agricultural and
forestry development.
Moreover, no action outside networks and the logic of the State is possible: there is
close supervision of all external action limiting the implementation of new ways of action.
Finally, the socio-economic problems we found in the commune, as would justify
intervention, emanate mostly from outside influences (usually of a top-down nature, without
any in-depth study of local needs, supervised by the State administration) that are not adapted
to local realities, and so destroy the local socio-economical balance.
Under such conditions, it’s not relevant to create a completely new project.
What is to be done in this specific case and how may we act? 6
The poverty rate of the commune is 16% (2008), in Lao Cai province is 20%.

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2) How to act towards development dynamic in this commune. A mediating
position between the different actors
It’s most effective and relevant to follow what is already in progress or what will
happen, to orient it and encourage a better match with local realities (needs, wants,
opportunities, opportunities, skills, background, aspirations, etc.) in order to limit as much as
possible the risk of socio-political and cultural problems generally induced by outside

Our overall approach is to establish an eco-tourism project based from its first
conception on an in-depth study of local conditions and on the direct involvement of local
people.

13
In other words, the challenge was not to change the beneficiaries so as to push them
to follow an external action, but to modify the project to make it more responsive and
adaptable especially by the beneficiaries.
How are those objectives and approach currently implemented in the tourism
project?
What specific recommendations have we made in order to fulfil and accomplish
our goals?
We organized numerous meeting with authorities from different sectors (culture,
agriculture, forest, construction) at commune, district and province levels, for them to
become familiar with our point of view, understand the different institutional constraints and
opportunities and to begin to design a first project draft together.
We also worked with civil servants in charge of the project at the district level to
adjust a first project plan.
We also worked with a foreign NGO to make a specific survey on tourism
development capacity at village level and to collect 
development in their village.
We conducted surveys on other ethno-touristic spots in North Vietnam (Mai Chau,
Ha Giang, Hoa Binh) and met with tourist officers specialized in ethnic tourism to list points
such as, persistent problems of tourism, potential, strengths and weaknesses.
During this process, we convinced authorities that it was better to carry out a small-
scale eco-tourism project
7
rather than considering a mass tourism project with hotels, karaoke
and a folklorisation process of the local culture based on the Chinese model (setting up an
artificial show of local culture). Home stays in ethnic wooden stilt houses would be favoured.

This dual management device aims at limiting the diversion of the project by local
authorities
8
or by powerful persons, so as to prevent the exploitation of tourism through
tourist agencies unconcerned with local balances
9
, while ensuring efficient operation.
In addition, rather than adapting only the villagers to the reception of tourists (as in
most ethnic tourism projects in Vietnam), the project specifies that tourists must also adapt to
local norms and rhythms. In other words, the management committee and the central
reservation office are regularly informed by local relay of the project and of significant social
and economic activities taking place (harvests, weddings, funerals, religious ceremonies etc.)
and regulate tourism based on this information.
These are some concrete examples of actions proposed in the design of the project.
These recommendations are based directly on the socio-anthropological study in the town, as
well as an inventory of the recurring problems of ethnic tourism in Vietnam. One of the main
challenges was to integrate both the views of villagers and local realities into the project
design, and to ensure sufficient flexibility in the project to generate adaptations and re-
appropriation by the local populations.
Conclusion
The substantive idea is to show, through application of a case study, that time spent
studying the local context without prejudging the focus area allows, first, for improving the
efficiency of projects and secondly, for minimizing potential disruption caused by external
intervention not adapted to local realities.
But for this, it is necessary to take a distance from the usual patterns of projects: short
study, definition of areas of intervention only slightly connected to local realities and
demands, insufficient consideration of local conditions, and inability to adjust after starting a
project even if that becomes necessary.
Here are some simple but useful recommendations on cooperation between
anthropologists and development operators:


CULAS Christian
2014 (forthcoming) « Developpementalisme et participationnisme au Vietnam.
Anthropologie des relations État/population ou comment faire du neuf avec de
 » », Actes de la Recherche en Sciences Sociales, N° Spécial « L’État
participatif. Sociologie multi-sites de l’idéologie scientiste du bon
gouvernement » coordonné par Philippe Aldrin et Nicolas Hubé, 26 p.
CULAS Christian
2010a A failled « success story » for Tourist Development Projects in Tam o: Gaps
 in Culas Christian and Nguyen Van Suu
(eds.), Norms and Practices in Contemporary Rural Vietnam. Social Interaction
between Authorities and People. Occasional Papers N°15. Bangkok: IRASEC,
pp. 21-78 p. Online
/>publicationid=305
CULAS Christian
2010b u s i v kin thc và tp tn lý môi
ng  min núi Vit Nam: Nhìn t m nhân chng htudy of
discourses on local knowledge and practices on environment management in
 
, Nguyp, Phan Th Yn Tuyt (eds.), Hiện đại và động thái của
truyền thống ở Việt Nam: Những cách tiếp cận nhân học. Modernity and