[hepr-vn] The Australian National University, Vietnam Update 2008: Call for Papers

[Vern Weitzel]

Subject: Vietnam Update 2008: Call for Papers
Date: Tue, 01 Apr 2008 22:16:14 +1100 (EST)
From: Philip Taylor <philip.taylor at anu.edu.au>
Reply-To: philip.taylor at anu.edu.au


Dear List,
Please find below the call for papers for the 2008 Vietnam Update on
Labour in Vietnam. We welcome your proposals for papers.
Best regards,
Philip Taylor

VIETNAM UPDATE 2008

Labour in Vietnam

6-7 November 2008

The Australian National University
Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Canberra

CALL FOR PAPERS

Vietnam's transformation into an industrial economy is evidenced by the
rapid growth in foreign industrial investments and the increased share of
GDP occupied by manufacturing. However, as industrial parks multiply and
made-in-Vietnam products proliferate worldwide, so too do labour disputes.
For three years in a row, Vietnam has been hit by strike waves, especially
immediately before and after Tet. This is an unusual labor phenomenon at a
time when the mobility of global capital has instilled quiescence in many
governments and labour. Yet, the strikes have not deterred foreign
investors. Below the surface, rarely manifested in overt labour disputes,
are diverse concerns about inadequate social infrastructure for migrant
workers, the overall quality of the workforce, the representation of
worker's interests, the unregulated informal sector and the
hard-to-quantify social and cultural costs of Vietnam's rapid
transformation from an agricultural to industrial economy.

The 2008 Vietnam Update takes up the timely issue of labour in Vietnam. It
will explore the theme of labour broadly, including Vietnam's position in
regional labour markets; the socialist legacy in the globalised workplace;
everyday working conditions and experiences; the regulatory framework; the
changing industrial relations system; the politics of labour; the
protection of labour rights; and the internationalisation of labour
standards. It aims to understand a breadth of perspectives, including the
views of domestic and foreign company managers, labour activists, state
regulators and workers. Vietnam Update organisers are calling for
research-based papers that address the following sets of questions
relating to this theme:

1. As Vietnam integrates into global labour markets, it faces new
opportunities and constraints. At the macro level over the last two
decades, in what ways have sectoral changes and changes in industrial
structure and ownership (equitisation, privatisation, state-enterprise
restructuring, and the emergence of new private and foreign sectors)
affected the country's labour market, employment, human resources, the
social welfare system, standards of living, social equality, etc.? How do
working conditions, labour capacities and the regulatory framework in
Vietnam compare with those of other countries in the region? What are the
prospects for Vietnam's workers in this globalised economy? How are these
macro economic changes played out in the changing nature of work, and
policies, politics, and practical solutions relating to labour markets?

2. What is the nature of work in Vietnam today? What can be learnt about
the spectrum of present day work experiences and how might this differ
from the past? What does work mean to people, how is it conceptualised?
What kinds of new challenges and problems do workers experience? What do
job-seekers expect in terms of working conditions and terms? What
adjustments have people made to gain employment in the changing economic
conditions, and how have their choices shaped the economic landscape? The
experiences of migrant labourers are of particular interest as we seek to
understand the motives and conditions of the hundreds of thousands of
Vietnamese who migrate domestically and overseas to find work. Why have
they migrated to seek work elsewhere? How have they fared? What is known
about the practices of labour recruitment? Answers to these questions are
sought in papers that may investigate work in a wide range of sectors,
jobs and localities, including manufacturing, agriculture, the service
sector and state employment.

3. Labour protests have been on the rise year on year. Where have they
occurred, and what forms have they taken? What are the instigating
conditions and what are the demands? How are the protests organised? How
does a work force that is so young develop a capacity for strike action?
Do these labour disruptions portend a new stage in Vietnam's labour
movement? What role has the media, which is generally pro-labour, played
to nurture workers' consciousness? How do employers, the Vietnamese state
and the official trade union react to these protests?

4. As private and foreign capital expands in Vietnam, commodification and
feminisation of labour has become a reality. Of particular interest are
Taiwanese and Korean businesses, the two biggest investors in Vietnam,
whose factories are most prone to strike actions. What are the labour
regimes and labour standards like in these East Asian enterprises? How do
the workers, who are mostly female migrants from the poorer parts of the
country, adjust mentally, physically and socially to such regimes? Papers
are sought that capture the voices and analyse the conditions of the
workers in the East Asian business sector in Vietnam. Papers that examine
management cultures and working conditions in other foreign-invested
enterprises or in Vietnamese-owned companies are also welcome.

5. What is the situation vis-a-vis Vietnam’s state enterprises and
workers? What restructuring and management regime changes have taken place
in the state sector? How have state workers adjusted? What have been their
attitudes to such changes? What conditions are they encountering? Are they
doing better or worse than workers in the other sectors? Why have they
been rarely involved in labour protests? The private sector boom is
draining people away from the state sector. In the eyes of job-seekers,
employees and others, what are the pros and cons of employment in the
state sector versus the private sector in terms of conditions, status or
other considerations?

6. What type of regulatory regime for labor is in place in Vietnam? Has
the regulatory system been effective? From what sources does pressure to
change the regulatory framework come? What is the relationship between the
state, the Vietnamese trade union and the workers? Can one speak of a
monolithic state policy vis-a-vis labour, or is there a multiplicity of
bureaucratic interests? Does the official trade union represent workers'
interests at all? Are there any signs that the official union is behaving
more like a trade union and what possibility is there of the emergence of
independent trade unions? Is there a vision about where the labour
movement should be moving? As foreign trade unions and international
organizations such as the International Labour Organization (ILO)
establish contacts and even offices in Vietnam, what influence have they
had on Vietnam's industrial relations system?

7. As Vietnam increasingly integrates with the global supply chain and as
it increases its exports, labour rights violations have been drawing
attention from the outside world. The corporate social responsibility
(CSR) initiative has penetrated Vietnam for more than a decade. What has
been its impact? What other perspectives influence the setting of labour
standards in Vietnam, including expectations that may have emerged under
socialism, the social and cultural expectations of workers, or the
expectations of foreign employers? Does the government enforce a
particular perspective or act effectively as a mediator?

8. What kinds of debates regarding labour take place in the public sphere?
Can one detect differences of opinion, including divergent opinions within
the state apparatus? How effective have debates or campaigns run in the
media been in bringing about changes in policy? What influential
representations of labour issues can be found in the news media,
television dramas, films and literature? The conference also welcomes the
showing of documentaries and/or film critiques that bring labour in
Vietnam to life on screen.

Interested writers are invited to submit paper proposals on the above
themes. We do not expect each paper to address all the sets of questions
noted above. We would like, however, each paper to take up issues from
more than one of these sets. Papers can approach the issues in different
ways; we expect variety in this regard. Interdisciplinary approaches are
encouraged Contributions should endeavour to put the discussion in
comparative perspective.

PROPOSAL SUBMISSION
Contributors should send their proposals and a one page CV to Dr Anita
Chan by 17 May 2008. Email: anita.chan at anu.edu.au

Each proposal should be no longer than 600 words. The proposal should
outline how the paper relates to the issues highlighted in the above set
of questions and the kind of research the paper will be based on.

The conference organizers will then decide which proposals to accept. We
will then extend invitations to the authors of the selected proposals to
prepare and present their papers to the conference. The organizers also
reserve the right to reject papers presented and also to solicit papers,
if necessary, from individuals who did not submit proposals.

Some funding for travel and accommodation is available and details will be
discussed later with each paper presenter.

PAPER SPECIFICATIONS
The paper itself should be submitted 30 days before the date of the
conference.

The paper should not exceed 10,000 words and it should include appropriate
bibliography and citations. Each paper should include an abstract of 200
words.

PRESENTATION AND PUBLICATION
We envisage about ten paper presentations during a one and a half day
workshop in Canberra on 6-7 November 2008. The conference will also have
two presentations about recent political and economic developments in
Vietnam.

At the Update each author will have approximately 40 minutes to summarise
what her/his paper argues and the evidence used. The full text of the
paper may be included, subject to any necessary revisions to meet
publication requirements, in a refereed book that we hope will be
published within a year after the conference.

CONFERENCE ORGANISERS
For further information, please contact any of the following organizers:

Convenor: Anita Chan, Contemporary China Centre, Research School of
Pacific and Asian Studies, The Australian National University.
Email: anita.chan at anu.edu.au

Philip Taylor, Dept. of Anthropology, RSPAS, The Australian National
University.
Email: philip.taylor at anu.edu.au

David Koh, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore.
Email: davidkoh at iseas.edu.sg

David Marr, Division of Pacific and Asian History, RSPAS, The Australian
National University.
Email: dgm405 at coombs.anu.edu.au

Li Tana, Division of Pacific and Asian History, RSPAS, The Australian
National University.
Email: tana.li at anu.edu.au

Ashley Carruthers, School of Archaeology & Anthropology, Faculty of Arts.
Email: ashley.carruthers at anu.edu.au

Ben Kerkvliet, Dept. of Political and Social Change, RSPAS, The Australian
National University.
Email: ben.kerkvliet at anu.edu.au

Thai Duy Bao, Faculty of Asian Studies, The Australian National
University. Email: bao.thai at anu.edu.au