ABSTRACT
This chapter examines contemporary sociocultural life and living conditions in rural Vietnamese lowlands, with close attention to the variations through space and time, as well as to the differences among ethnic Vietnamese, Chinese, Cham, and Khmer. It suggests that while living conditions have significantly improved for most rural dwellers in the Vietnamese lowlands in recent decades, there has been a considerable sociocultural continuity over time. The chapter also discusses some major theoretical and analytical frameworks that Vietnamese and international social scientists have used to explain these variations through space, time, and among different ethnic groups.
