The State, Local Sociocultural Landscape, and Global Neoliberal Ideology in Vietnam

In the context of accelerating globalization as well as a shifting theoretical landscape in the social sciences and the humanities, this article examines the recent greater attention to the state and global forces, including the global neoliberal ideology, in Asian studies. Empirically, the article examines the resilient roles of family members and relatives in childcare and elderly care in Vietnam and many other parts of East and Southeast Asia, as well as the related trend of relatively low public social expenditures in most East and Southeast Asian societies. The long-standing ideology of familialism, which underlies the pattern of care for the young and elderly in Vietnam and many Asian societies, shapes state policies and exerts an impact on global capitalist operations in Vietnam, notwithstanding the acceleration of globalization, the global neoliberal ideology, and the strong power of the Vietnamese communist party-state. This article suggests that the relation between the local sociocultural landscape, state policies, and global forces involves a dialogic process.