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To purchase or authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-5871.2007.00492.x Byline: LE THI VAN HUE (1), STEFFANIE SCOTT (2) Keywords: Vietnam; economic reforms; land; mangroves; income inequality; social differentiation; privatisation; aquaculture; shrimp; environmental problems Abstract: Abstract This paper reviews the evolution of land use and mangrove forest management in a coastal commune in Central Vietnam from its early period of environmentally sound management under a common property regime, through State and cooperative management, to individual household allocation under the economic reforms of the 1990s. It analyses in particular the introduction of shrimp culture and its environmental and socioeconomic consequences. The case study demonstrates that, while opening up many economic opportunities, Vietnam's economic reforms have had uneven impacts on income inequality. Like many cases in Asia and Latin America, the disruption of common property resources - through the introduction of aquaculture as a livelihood opportunity and producer of an export crop - leaves farmers indebted and natural resources polluted. But, ironically, it was the financially better-off aquaculture farmers, who had more capacity for risk-taking and investing, who ended up most indebted, in comparison with poorer farmers who had already sold their ponds. The latter were less integrated into the market economy and relied more on marine product collection. This paper suggests that attention to local contexts and histories can contribute to a better understanding of the causes and consequences of environment-poverty interfaces. Author Affiliation: (1)Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Hanoi University of Science, Vietnam. (2)Department of Geography, Faculty of Environmental Studies, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, N2J 1V5 Canada. Article History: Received 15 July 2006; Revised 29 November 2007; Accepted 30 November 2007 Article note: (*) Corresponding author. Email: sdscott@fesmail.uwaterloo.ca

To purchase or authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-5871.2007.00486.x Byline: STEFFANIE SCOTT (1), ARTHUR CONACHER (2) Author Affiliation: (1)Department of Geography, Faculty of Environmental Studies, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, N2J 1V5 Canada. (2)School of Earth and Geographical Sciences, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia. Article note: (*) Guest Editor and corresponding author. Email: sdscott@fesmail.uwaterloo.ca

Rapid socioeconomic and institutional changes in Vietnam since the early 1990s have opened up new geographical spaces for field research. Reflecting on the experiences of three doctoral student researchers engaged in distinct development geography fieldwork projects in Vietnam, this paper profiles some of the conditions and procedures for carrying out fieldwork in order to serve as a basis for comparison of changing 'fieldwork possibilities' in Vietnam and other developing and transitional socialist countries.

To purchase or authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-5871.2007.00498.x Byline: Steffanie Scott (1) Author Affiliation: (1)University of Waterloo Canada