Week 1 Blog
The introduction of Transnationalizing Viet Nam defines and places an emphasis on the concept of diasporas and their impact, specifically focusing on the “transnational connections between Viet Nam and its overseas population in the United States from 1975 to 2012” (Valverde 2). This chapter demonstrates the significance of the events that occurred during the Cold War and their global impact on Vietnam and the United States (U.S.) through the dispersion of the Vietnamese in the U.S. and the connections they have to their home country relative to the racial melancholia that is widely experienced in Vietnamese American communities. An example of this melancholia would be that “South Asians in America … are affected by both the lived and imagined notion of ‘home’” (Anderson, Lee 14). Additionally, the transnational ties between those that emigrated and their home country work to strengthen that state through things such as investments or tourism from those that wish to reconnect with their home country. This reading relates to the theme of the week because it links historical events to the origin of the Vietnamese diaspora and highlighting the global effect that militarized intervention of powerful states caused to the country of Vietnam and its people. Furthermore, the impacts of intervention are witnessed through the Vietnam war and its aftermath of refugees, composing the Vietnamese diaspora. The Vietnamese diaspora can be used as an example to demonstrate the consequences of U.S. intervention and war, such as an influx of refugees. This can be exemplified through the recent Syrian refugee crisis.
Question: Would the Vietnamese government still want to connect with the Viet Kieu and Vietnamese diaspora if it does not provide benefits such as investments and money to the state?
Works Cited:
Displacements and Diasporas: Asians in the Americas / Edited by Wanni W. Anderson, Robert G. Lee, edited by Wanni W. Anderson, et al., Rutgers University Press, 2005.
Valverde, Kieu-Linh Caroline. Transnationalizing Viet Nam: Community, Culture, and Politics in the Diaspora. Temple Univeristy Press, 2013.
Good job connecting to current events.
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