Land policy innovation in Vietnam

USSH respectfully introduces the new book "Land Policy Innovation in Vietnam - From Theory to Practice" by author Nguyen Van Suu (PhD, Deputy Head of Anthropology Department). The book consists of 5 chapters, 258 pages, published by the National Political Publishing House.

Publisher's Note

In recent years, the issue of land and land policy innovation in Vietnam has become a hot topic, hotly discussed in public opinion. It is not only a problem of a sector, a level, of land policy makers, but above all, it is a daily issue, directly related to the rights and livelihoods of many individuals, families and social classes. Because of that meaning and importance, land has become an important and interesting topic, attracting the interest and attention of many scholars and researchers in different scientific fields.

Up to now, there have been dozens of books and hundreds of research articles addressing the land issue and the process of land policy innovation in Vietnam. Regardless of the approach and aspect, most studies agree on the following: first, land is considered to have economic value and political significance for social entities and the State; and second, land policy innovation in Vietnam since the 1980s has been creating an important change in the structure and land relations, contributing greatly to the recovery and promotion of economic growth, opening up a period of liberalization and commercialization in many fields in rural areas of Vietnam. However, these works have not thoroughly and systematically analyzed and evaluated the issues of context, causes, content, consequences and impacts of the land policy innovation process in the economic, political and social fields. That reality raises many issues and challenges for researchers and land policy makers in Vietnam. The question is how to have many effective studies and solutions to address the demands of reality, at the same time predict the trends and impacts of the land policy innovation process in the future, thereby proposing a correct socio-economic development strategy, suitable to the circumstances and practices of Vietnam. From that open direction, after many years of thinking and worrying, Dr. Nguyen Van Suu published the book "Land policy innovation in Vietnam - From theory to practice". By combining different approaches, this book has analyzed the process of land policy innovation in general, agricultural land in particular, which was initiated in the 1980s of the 20th century and examined its impacts on a number of areas such as ownership, management, property rights, access and use of land, revocation of land use rights and conversion of farmers' livelihoods, thereby studying the changes in land structure and relations; the relationship between planning, implementation and innovation of land policy in Vietnam; the economic, political and social impacts of this process on farmers in particular and social life in general. The author of the book also shows that there is currently a certain gap between theory and practice, policy and practice in planning and implementing land policy, especially with agricultural land. These issues are and will be the driving force and cause of adjustments and innovations of land policy in the following years. The book is a useful and valuable reference for researchers, land policy makers and a wide range of readers. The publisher and author look forward to receiving comments from readers to improve the next editions. We would like to respectfully introduce the book to readers.