earticle

영어

In Vietnam, corruption is a problem that can be recognized in both feudal and colonial history. Under the Socialist State, corruption continues to be found in various forms, and involves different types of people in the state and society. Since Đổi Mới, corruption has increased, to the extent that it is seen as a national disaster, an internal enemy threatening the survival of the Socialist regime, and resulted in the people’s discontent as well as the party-state’s campaigns to curb corruption. Putting in such a context, this paper shows how local cadre corruption has become closely related to the communal resources, especially the land, and became one of the key causes for local conflicts in the rural areas. I argue that while villagers accept minor amounts of corruption, they do not tolerate too much corruption. Villagers’ protests became more severe when corruption took place alongside local cadres’ moral misbehaviours to the villagers, and therefore being used to judge the morality of local cadres. An in-depth case study in the Red river delta is presented to illuminate the argument.