Agricultural Land Claims in the Red River Delta During Decollectivisation

In this chapter, I adapt the game approach to examine the differences and conformities between formal legal laws and under-law regulations of the party-state institutions and the real practices of the Red river delta villagers on the holding and use of agricultural land. More specifically, this chapter emphasizes official norms, in this case the study of agricultural land claims regarded as formal legal laws and under-law regulations of the party-state institutions. Furthermore, it examines how and why the practices of agricultural land claims of villagers from the Red River Delta contradict with such official norms over the holding of use rights on certain areas or plots of agricultural land during the 1980s-1990s agricultural decollectivization period. Endorsing the arguments made in the available literature on this topic, the chapter postulates that there is a major gap between official norms and villagers’ practices in Vietnam’s rural areas. It also highlights the space for the villagers to move around what the party-state wants to do (through its policy) and the people’s struggle to pursue their everyday needs and desires. In this chapter, I also discuss the importance of land property rights and indicate how the everyday practices of land holdings and land use have influenced the official norms of the party-state over the question of ownership, management and use of agricultural land in contemporary Vietnam.