Monkey king and sage: Hanoi's politics of syncretism

What is a small state, such as Vietnam, to do in the course of post-war rebuilding? What paths of participation may craft state-societal relations? In its second decade of economic renovation and open door policies, how contentious or complementary are relations among villagers, the state, and the Vietnam Communist Party? This dissertation examines these questions through political anthropology, critical theory, and development studies that embed the researcher in two Hanoi villages.;This researcher investigates political policy making in domestic and foreign affairs through the perspective of "classroom" participants. Most classes occurred on the campus of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Others convened informally with medical personnel, street artisans, and state and party cadres. Drawing upon Paulo Freire principles of praxis, this researcher-teacher and students co-investigated the implications of Vietnam's ongoing process of regionalism and globalization. Discussions and essays delved into students' perceptions of how Hanoi approaches individual and collective needs, assets, obstacles, and development partners. Other questions probed how state-societal relations may hold together, even as identities and roles are differentiated within Vietnam, and between Vietnam and external actors. Classroom responses were juxtaposed primary and secondary literature in Hanoi, and then alongside interviews of resident international development personnel.;Findings uncover a Hanoi culture of politics rooted in syncretism and redemptive struggle. These juxtapose seemingly opposite forces in search of a complement. This syncretism is rooted in Hanoi's sense of history and self. It finds expression in public policy as much as allegory, legend, myth, music, spirituality, linguistics, literature, arts, and street names. According to these students, Hanoi's culture of politics is primarily Southeast Asian, and only secondarily Sino-Confucian, Marxist-Leninist, and western. This syncretism, in part, shapes Vietnam's perception of external actors, thus contributing to a translation/compassion gap between Hanoi and "the other." The reaction of outsiders reshapes Hanoi's evolving syncretism, but not generally in ways that close this gap. The result is a more complex post-war rebuilding process. Finally, this researcher hypothesizes that Hanoi's worldview also affects north-south perspectives within Vietnam, and will test this by replicating this methodology, curriculum, and questions on southern campuses.