Between Sacrifice and Desire: National Identity and the Governing of Femininity in Vietnam

This title explores the role of women in the politics of national identity in Vietnam. Drawing on diverse primary resources–including state news media, government contests, tabloid journalism, and extensive interviews–the author examines the intimate connection between notions of Vietnamese femininity and the cultural quandaries of modernity in post-colonial Vietnam. The book covers the socialist and market reform periods (from the 1950s through the 1990s) and examines women’s central place–as both symbols and disciplined subjects–in Vietnam’s socialist modernization and ongoing capitalist transition.