The Vietnamese Hydrocracy and the Mekong Delta

Book excerpt: Subduing nature and harnessing water resources rose to become the key paradigm of modernization in the Vietnam's Mekong Delta. Over the past 40 years, waterscape engineering turned Vietnam's largest river estuary into one of the most agriculturally productive areas in the world. This book traces water resources development from the time of the socialist-oriented hydraulic mission and Green Revolution, which began in the late 1970s under the economic rationale of central planning, to more recent trends responding to renovation policy, global environmental change, and Vietnam's capitalist transformation. Analytically, the focus is with the nexus of water regulation, bureaucratic power, and socio-ecological change, as well as the vested interests and corresponding strategic actions that coalesce around the technocratic hydro-management. Going beyond the scope of the Mekong Delta, the book offers new perspectives and critical reflections on water governance dynamics and institutional reforms in Vietnam, from both historical and contemporary perspectives. (Series: ZEF Development Studies - Vol. 25) [Subject: Asian Studies, Vietnamese Studies, Hydrology, Environmental Studies, Natural Resources]