Closer to the truth

The review is given to the book "Mythbusting Vietnam" published in Copenhagen. Its authors, most of them sociologists, set out to understand some of the phenomena of social life in Vietnam in the light of some views well-established in the West. Such issues as the impact of the Soviet Union on reforms in Vietnam, the similarity of the Doi Moi policy in Vietnam, reforms in China and Mikhail Gorbachev’s Perestroika are considered. Special attention is paid to the problems of Vietnam’s cities, in particular the situation of rural residents who moved there. The review offers a brief overview of the published materials; some objections are expressed to a number of conclusions.

Vietnam, policy of "renewal" (Doi Moi), Soviet influence, Stalinism, urbanization, internal migration, Confucianism, epistemology