ABSTRACT
A deliberate effort has been made throughout this study to avoid any reference to “the village economy” on the grounds that this term implies an integrated, relatively self-sufficient and self-contained economic entity. Khanh Hau is not a “village economy” in this latter sense, but instead is thoroughly tied to the national economy in a number of ways. Further, while the interests and concerns of most village residents are largely with things which take place in the village or affect its people, it does not follow that they identify their own interests primarily, or even extensively, with those of the community at large. This has been implicit in much of the description which has preceded, but the time has come to state this viewpoint specifically and to attempt to substantiate it.
