Tóm tắt tiếng anh: Sinh kế của người Khơ mú tại khu tái định cư ở huyện Thanh Chương, tỉnh Nghệ An.

Sinh kế của người Khơ mú tại khu tái định cư ở huyện Thanh Chương, tỉnh Nghệ An.Sinh kế của người Khơ mú tại khu tái định cư ở huyện Thanh Chương, tỉnh Nghệ An.Sinh kế của người Khơ mú tại khu tái định cư ở huyện Thanh Chương, tỉnh Nghệ An.Sinh kế của người Khơ mú tại khu tái định cư ở huyện Thanh Chương, tỉnh Nghệ An.Sinh kế của người Khơ mú tại khu tái định cư ở huyện Thanh Chương, tỉnh Nghệ An.

VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

LE MANH HUNG

LIVELIHOOD OF KHMU PEOPLE

IN THE RESETTLEMENT SITE OF THANH CHUONG DISTRICT,

NGHE AN PROVINCE

Major: Anthropology Code: 9 31 03 02

DOCTORAL THESIS FOR ANTHROPOLOGY

Ha Noi 2021

This study is conducted at Graduate Academy of Social Sciences

Supervisors: 1 Dr Dao Thi Minh Huong

2 Assoc Prof Dr Pham Quang Hoan

Reviewer 1: Assoc Prof Dr Lam Ba Nam

Reviewer 2: Assoc Prof Dr Le Ngoc Thang

Reviewer 3: Prof Dr Tran Trung

The thesis will be defended at Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences’s Committee, 447 Nguyen Trai, Thanh Xuan, Hanoi

At ….hour…….minutes, date……… month……year 2021

Can be found at:

- Academy of Social Sciences’s Library

- Vietnam National Library

PREAMBLE

1.The urgency of the subject

Over the past decades, migration and resettlement in developmentprojects have raised many economic, environmental, cultural and socialissues that need to be addressed, including ensuring livelihoods andlivelihoods Sustainable design for the affected community is one of the topconcerns not only of policy makers but also academic researchers

The construction of hydropower projects in mountainous areas ofVietnam has made an important contribution to water storage and powersupply for the country's socio-economic development However, thatconstruction process had to take away a very large area of land from people

in mountainous areas and ethnic minority areas - where people have lowincomes, high poverty rates and are vulnerable in many ways There havebeen many studies on resettlement from different angles, analyzing quiteclearly the impacts of resettlement programs in terms of environment,poverty, cultural preservation However, one the issue of less concern ishow the people displaced by resettlement programs will adapt to the newcircumstances and living conditions, what factors hinder and help them get

a livelihood Sustainability has not received much attention, especially fromthe perspective of Anthropology

The livelihood activities of the ethnic groups are always associatedwith a specific ecological environment and the way of life has been shapedfor a long time in history, so livelihood can be considered as a component

of ethnic culture Resettlement to hydropower has moved people to a newplace of residence, so this policy has contributed to changing the livelihood,culture and society of the ethnic people by changing the conditions of thenatural environment and society In fact, compensation and support forresettlement have been invested much by the State and resettled peoplehave also benefited from the project due to the compensation and aids.However, compensation and support policies often focus on land, finance,etc., but pay little attention to ethnic cultural factors, making the goals ofpoverty reduction, economic development, etc cultural preservation, or

“life in the new place is at least equal to or better than the old one” has notachieved the desired results

The Khmu people in the resettlement sites in Thanh Chuong districtare residents from Tuong Duong district of Nghe An province who havejust moved in over the past 10 years, they are the people who have to

resettle to recover for the construction of Ban Ve hydropower plant.Traditionally, these people often live in communities with long-standingcustoms and culture The relocation of them away from their familiar places

of residence has affected people's economy, society and culture in manyways The contents and forms of impact are very rich and diverse, bothpositive and negative The livelihood resources have many changes, besidestraditional livelihood activities, there are also other activities newlivelihoods due to resettlement impacts

For the above reasons, the thesis has chosen the topic of research onthe livelihood of the Khmu people in the resettlement site in Thanh Chuongdistrict, Nghe An province, thereby wishing to analyze the current situation

of livelihoods as a basis for recognition livelihood change of a resettledethnic minority community The results in the thesis will contribute touseful references for researchers, experts in economic and social policymaking The data mentioned in the thesis will contribute as a basis toclarify the development perspective for ethnic minorities in the highlands,especially policies on resettlement and livelihoods of ethnic minorities.Thereby, the thesis also contributes to providing more theoretical andpractical issues on livelihoods, livelihood change and adaptation of peopleafter resettlement to the community of residents in mountainous areas ofVietnam South, especially the ethnic minorities

2.Purpose and research tasks of the thesis

2.1.Research purpose of the thesis

The purpose of the thesis is to find out the current situation andchanges of livelihood resources and livelihood activities of the Khmupeople in the resettlement site in Thanh Chuong district, Nghe An province;thereby clarifying the livelihood adaptation and proposing some solutionstowards sustainable livelihood development for the Khmu people in theresettlement place

2.2.Research tasks of the thesis

-Systematizing theory, analysis framework on livelihoods, research onKhmu people and resettlement

-Understanding the livelihood resources of the Khmu before and afterresettlement

- Presenting and analyzing livelihood activities before and afterresettlement to see the change in livelihoods in different livingenvironments of the ethnic group

- Clarifying the adaptation in terms of livelihood and proposes somerecommendations towards sustainable livelihood development for theKhmu at the resettlement site.

3.Research object and scope of the thesis

3.1.Research object of the thesis

The research object of the thesis is the livelihood of the resettled Khmupeople in Thanh Chuong district, Nghe An province

3.2.Research scope of the thesis

- On time: Livelihood of Khmu people after resettlement (2006) inThanh Chuong, Nghe An until 2019

-On location: The study was carried out in the resettlement site of theKhmu people in Thanh Son and Ngoc Lam communes of Thanh Chuongdistrict, Nghe An province In which, Thanh Son commune was selected asthe main research site of the thesis because most of the resettled Khmupeople live in this commune

4.Methodology and research methods of the thesis

4.1.Methodology

4.1.1.Marxism-Leninism

The thesis is based on the philosophical point of view of dialecticalmaterialism and historical materialism to recognize and analyze how theKhmu people behave with the natural and social environment in theirlivelihood activities Although the issue of resettlement is identified as theresearch objective, the thesis does not consider it as an independent elementbut is placed in the cultural, social and historical context of the Khmupeople in Thanh Chuong district, the province Nghe An, as well as in therelationship with the community of other ethnic groups to consider andevaluate

4.1.2.Ho Chi Minh Thought and the views of the Party and the State

The thesis is based on Ho Chi Minh's thought and the views of theCommunist Party and the State of Vietnam on ethnic policies and socio-economic development orientation of Nghe An province and Thanh Chuongdistrict as a basis for analyzing biological of the Khmu people at theresettlement site

4.2.Research Methods

4.2.1.Method of data collection

Collecting secondary data: During the research process, documents

related to the topic were collected, namely: guidelines and policies of the

Party and State, decisions of local authorities on migration and resettlement

in hydropower projects in general and resettlement in Ban Ve hydropowerplant in particular Documents on livelihoods, sustainable livelihoods,resettlement, Khmu people, program evaluation reports oforganizations/scientists, the media

Ethnographic fieldwork: The thesis chooses a traditional research

method in ethnology/anthropology that is ethnographic fieldwork in thesettlements/villages of the Khmu people after resettlement in Thanh district.Chuong, Nghe An province The field data collection tools of the thesis are:1)Participating observation: In order to collect information, the PhD

student participated in eating, living, working with local people,experiencing their daily life, thereby having observation conditions directlyand experience the culture as well as learn about the livelihood capitalsources and livelihood activities of the people:

2) In-depth interviews: The thesis has conducted 35 in-depth

interviews with individuals of different groups in the resettlementcommunity and officials at commune and district levels The method of oralhistory has been used a lot in this thesis to learn about people's life stories,

in which life experiences and livelihood activities before and afterresettlement residence:

3) Group discussion: The thesis has conducted 8 group discussions

(including group of 02 women, 02 groups of men, 02 mixed groups of menand women, 01 group of commune and village officials, 01 mixed group ofpeople people and officials) in the community Through group discussions,the thesis author can quickly detect the problems of livelihood resourcesand livelihood activities of the resettled Khmu people and propose policysolutions as well as specific solutions to help people have more sustainablelivelihood activities

4)Direct observation: Besides the main data collected and observed

through ethnographic fieldwork in the resettlement site in Thanh Chuongdistrict, Nghe An province, the author of the thesis also had the opportunity

to fill out wild in the villages of the Khmu people through different times(from 2004 to 2019) and in many locations such as Nghe An, Dien Bien,Son La of Vietnam; Luang Phra Bang, Udomxay (Laos); Yunnan (China).Through those field trips, the author of the thesis directly observed the reallife, infrastructure, houses and livelihood activities of the Khmu people to

have a comparative view in the cultural context, society and livelihood ofthe Khmu people in different locations.

Ethnic sociological survey: Ethnic sociological investigation for the

thesis is carried out using a pre-designed questionnaire and focuses oncollecting data for descriptive statistics about the current situation.livelihood capital sources and livelihood activities of resettled people

In addition, the thesis also combines the use of mapping andphotography methods to describe the resources and livelihood activities ofthe resettled Khmu people in Thanh Chuong, compared with the oldresidence and some the living area of the Khmu at home and abroad

4.2.2.Material handling method

Descriptive statistical method: This method is applied to describe the

general picture of the basic situation of the study areas, poverty status,livelihood resources and livelihood activities of the Khmu people afterresettlement The thesis uses SPSS software to analyze quantitativeinformation collected by questionnaires during fieldwork

Comparative analysis method: Comparison is a very important method

and basic approach in anthropological research, this approach is conductedwith many different topics The core of the thesis is to learn about thelivelihoods of an ethnic minority who have to resettle in a new place inorder to explore the similarities and differences in human change andadaptation to the new environment People's behavior in livelihoods will beanalyzed and compared in both chronological and synchronous aspects Interms of chronology, analyze and compare the Khmu people before andafter resettlement, in the synchronic aspect, compare the Khmu people withthe ethnic groups in the resettlement sites and the Khmu people in otherareas (based on secondary documents)

5.New scientific contributions of the thesis

The thesis "The livelihood of the Khmu people in the resettlement site

in Thanh Chuong district, Nghe An province" has some new scientific

contributions as follows:

- The thesis is the first scientific research work discussing thelivelihood in resettlement of the Khmu people in the resettlement site inThanh Chuong district, Nghe An province Thereby, we can see thelivelihood resources, changes and adaptations in the livelihood of the Khmupeople in the new living environment

- Research results of the thesis include policy proposals related toeconomic development, livelihoods and preservation of cultural diversity ofpeople after resettlement These proposals are considered based on theactual situation of the Khmu people in Thanh Chuong district, Nghe Anprovince, but they are also the basis for recognizing and evaluating viewsand policies for ethnic minorities in the area mountainous areas of Vietnam,especially the issue of resettlement.

- The research results of the thesis provide a scientific basis formanagers to develop policies for economic development, culturalpreservation, overcoming the limitations of resettlement in order to developsustainably, ensure livelihoods for people affected by the construction ofhydroelectric plants

6.Theoretical and practical significance of the thesis

6.1.Theoretical meaning

- The thesis contributes to providing more theoretical issues onresettlement, livelihood change and the adaptation of people afterresettlement to the community of residents in mountainous areas ofVietnam, especially are ethnic minorities, including the Khmu

- Through the application of a sustainable livelihood framework, theapplication of cultural ecology theory, the thesis has contributed toaffirming the ability to apply theories when studying ethnic livelihoods inthe research method system of Vietnam Ethnology/Anthropology whenstudying ethnic minorities in Vietnam, especially research on resettlement

-Research results contribute to supplement and clarify theories whenresearching ethnic livelihoods, cultural adaptation in resettlement

6.2.Practical significance

- The thesis provides practical documents on resources, changes inlivelihood activities, cultural adaptation of the Khmu people under theimpact of resettlement

- The research results of the thesis contribute to pointing out theoutstanding problems that need to be overcome in migration andresettlement, in economic development and in ensuring the livelihoods ofpeople in the mountainous areas of Vietnam

- The thesis also contributes to additional sources ofEthnology/Anthropology to serve the teaching and research of topics onlivelihoods, the Khmu people and resettlement

7.Structure of the thesis

In addition to the introduction and conclusion, the thesis is structuredinto 4 chapters, as follows:

Chapter 1 Overview on issues related to the thesis, theoretical basisand the research area

Chapter 2 Livelihood resources and some policies related to thelivelihood of the Khmu people in the resettlement site in Thanh Chuongdistrict, Nghe An province

Chapter 3 Livelihood activities of the Khmu people in the resettlementsite in Thanh Chuong district, Nghe An province

Chapter 4 Some problems for livelihoods and proposed solutionstowards sustainable livelihoods for the Khmu in the resettlement site

Chapter 1 OVERVIEW ON ISSUES RELATED TO THE THESIS, THEORETICAL BASIS AND THE RESEARCH AREA

et al (1992) again focused on explaining the origin of poverty, the structure

of agriculture and the significance of poverty on people's lives Frank Ellis(2000), has focused on presenting a diverse picture of rural life in order tounderstand the social relations, institutions, organizations and livelihoodstrategies of the people From the perspective of an anthropologist, AnanGanjanapan (2000) again focuses on cultural aspects of the management ofnatural resources, mainly land and forests, in the northern region ofThailand John Clammer (2001) addresses different issues of livelihood

activities, from theoretical issues to livelihood practices in differentcountries.

1.1.1.2. Research on the Khmu people

While the research literature on the Khmu people in Vietnamemphasizes the description of the traditional culture and way of life, studies

on this ethnic group in Laos, Thailand and China emphasize the aspectsdifferences of folklore life (Lindell: 1979, 1984; Li Daoyong: 1984) F.Proschan (1989) again focused on the study of the linguistic aspects of theKhmu people in the comparative context in Southeast Asia Comprehensivemonographic studies on the livelihoods of the Khmu are very rare, one ofthe earliest and quite complete works is probably Suksavang Simana (1997)

when he published the book "Livelihoods of the Kmhmu people.

Afforestation) “Kmhmu' livelihood Farming the Forest”.

1.1.1.3. Research on Resettlement

The World Bank (World Bank, 2000) is a collection of involuntaryresettlement studies in a comparative context in countries around the worldsuch as China, Thailand Asian Development Bank (ADB) has made greatefforts in assessing and mitigating risks in resettlement, especiallyinvoluntary resettlement As a result, a resettlement handbook andimplementation guidelines have been prepared by this agency, whichhighlights the policy towards involuntary resettlement (ADB: 1998) JunkoMarayuma (2003) in his study on the effects of resettlement on livelihoodsand social relationships, pointed out changes in people's livelihoodactivities and suggested that the foraging of people households is becausethey have to carry out involuntary resettlement and the change of livelihood

is due to support policies from the state, but completely people have noother choice Edited by Michael M Cernea and Scott E Guggenheim(1993) were the founders of the anthropological approach to resettlementand showed that anthropologists have the predominance of fieldwork.Collecting data on the most fundamental issues arising in resettlement sitesare good tools for development plans in resettlement

1.1.2.Inland researches of the author

1.1.2.1. Livelihood Research

For domestic research, in the past decade or so, livelihood studiesseem to have become a trend not only in the social sciences and humanitiesbut also in many other sciences such as economics, environment Themonographs, focusing on a relatively comprehensive analysis of people's

livelihoods have been published in turn (Dang Nguyen Anh: 2004), (TrieuVan Hung: 2013)…

Besides monographs, there are also more in-depth studies on differentaspects of livelihoods such as gender issues in accessing land andimproving household livelihoods (Nguyen Thi Van Anh: 2006; Bui ThiThanh Ha: 2005)

In addition, many articles on the livelihoods of different ethnic groupshave been published in specialized journals (Tran Hong Hanh: 2011), (BuiBich Lan: 2011), (Nguyen Thi Phuong Cham: 2014) Besides, studies onethnic livelihoods began to influence Master theses and PhD theses such as:(Bui Bich Lan: 2013); (Vu Tu Quyen: 2013)…

1.1.2.2. Research on the Khmu people

Researches on the Khmu people can first be seen as studies on thehistory of this ethnic group While a few researchers believe that the Khmuare indigenous people who have lived for a long time in the mountains ofnorthern Vietnam [(Vuong Hoang Tuyen: 1963, Mac Duong: 1964), themajority agree According to Dang Nghiem Van et al (1972), the Khmupeople just moved from Laos to Vietnam around the end of the 19th century(Nguyen Dinh Loc: 1993, Khong Dien (cb): 1999, Tran Tat Chung: 2001,Bui Quang Thang: 2003) Besides the historical issues of the Khmu people,some other researchers have delved deeper into understanding and trying todescribe the spiritual culture, family, marriage and kinship relations (Dang Nghiem Van: 1971, Nguyen Ngoc Thanh: 1995, Bui Quang Thang:

2003, Tran Thi Thao: 2010, Nguyen Van Toan: 2012, Nguyen Thi Thuan:2013) One of the important issues in the economic life of the Khmu peoplepeople, which has also been studied by a number of authors, is the knittingcraft activities (La Cong Y, Vo Mai Phuong: 2004, 2004) Pham MinhPhuc: 2005, 2007) Studies on sedentary cultivation by Nguyen Van Chinh(2008, 2015), Nguyen Van Toan (2007, 2013, 2014) not only consider thedecades-long process of implementing sedentary settlements in Vietnamand their responses of the Khmu people with this policy, but also offers anew perspective and approach in research on the issue of sedentarysettlement In addition, there have been a few monographs thatcomprehensively describe the history, culture and life of the Khmu people

in Vietnam, including the Khmu people in Nghe An Khong Dien (cb):

1999, Chu Thai Son et al: 2006) Most of these works focus on theethnographic description of the traditional cultural life, serving to identify

the ethnic composition, but pay little attention to the analysis of the Khmupeople's livelihood in a particular context specific socio-economic situationand resettlement environment.

1.1.2.3. Research on Resettlement

In-depth researches on the policy aspects of resettlement in generalhave been published one after another These works focus mainly on policyanalysis, looking for solutions for resettlement in general Trang Hieu Dung(1992) Further studies on policy in hydropower resettlement were alsomentioned Do Van Hoa: 2006, Tong Van Chung: 2005, Nguyen QuangTuyen: 2013, Nguyen Van Manh: 2011…) While others focus on the issues

of how to implement resettlement policy Do Duc Viem (2005), La Van Ly(2005), Bui Minh Thuan (2011), Dang Nguyen Anh (2007; 2009; 2012);Pham Quang Linh (2008, 2009)…The livelihood issues of ethnic minoritiesafter resettlement have also attracted research attention, this topic accountsfor a large number of research papers on the specialized magazines such asTran Thi Mai Lan (2007), Bui Van Dao (2011), Vi Van An, Bui MinhThuan (2012), Dinh Van Hung (2013), Lam Minh Chau (2010), PhamQuang Linh (2008), 2009)…

The studies as mentioned above are very rich and diverse, providingvaluable resources for the thesis, calling open research approaches,providing references and comparisons for the thesis

1.2.Theoretical basis

1.2.1.Some basic concepts

Livelihood: to the extent of this thesis, “livelihood means the ways of

making a living of people when using resources (natural resources, human resources, people, material resources, financial resources and social resources) to get products for their own needs their survival needs both in the present and in planning for the future Livelihood is not only limited in economics but also covering culture and cultural reflection”.

Ethnic livelihoods: by the author, different ethnic groups will behave

differently in the use of livelihood resources, depending on their historicalorigin, socio-cultural characteristics of each ethnic group Therefore, ethniclivelihood is a way of making a living created by ethnic groups with ethniccultural identity

Livelihood change: The author believes that the Khmu people

resettled in Thanh Chuong, Nghe An have two major changes in their

livelihoods, firstly, in terms of livelihood resources and then in terms oflivelihoods livelihood activities.

Sustainable Livelihoods: The Sustainable Livelihoods Framework

means that people rely on five types of capital to secure their livelihood,including: natural capital, human capital, and social capital social capital,physical capital, and financial capital

Livelihood resources: The concept of livelihood resources used in the

thesis is often called livelihood capital, including: human capital, naturalcapital, social capital, physical capital and financial capital

Livelihood activities: The concept of livelihood activities used in the

thesis is the use of livelihood resources in activities required to earn a living,

to satisfy material needs in order to ensure the survival of people.individuals, families and communities

Resettlement: Resettlement is a concept that still has many different

interpretations, depending on the purpose, different definitions are given Inresettlement for hydropower projects in Vietnam, there are usually someforms of interleaved resettlement, concentrated resettlement and movableresettlement

Involuntary Resettlement: Refering to the phenomenon of a group of

people having to relocate or change their place of residence to make wayfor development projects

Cultural change: Culture often tends to change and adapt to specific

natural and social environments Cultural change is the cultural change inthe social life of an ethnic group compared to traditional culture Culturalchange is often through absorbing and borrowing cultural elements of otherethnic groups Transformation can take place in some or all areas However,this transformation usually takes place in two trends: abandoning traditionalculture or changing to adapt to new conditions Cultural change is caused

by the internal needs of the culture of the community or ethnic group or byoutside interference

Cultural adaptation: Adaptation is all changes in the cultural and

social life of an ethnic group to suit new conditions and circumstanceswhile still retaining their cultural identity not only make ethnic culturepreserved but also have richer development [80]

1.2.2.Theory used in the thesis