The impacts of ethnicity policy on the Ruc community in the western mountains of Quang Binh province

Abstract

For many past years, the government of Vietnam has always paid special attention to and created favorable conditions for promoting economic, cultural, and social development for all ethnic groups, especially ethnic minorities in mountainous areas. Ruc people are a local group of the Chut ethnic group, residing in the western mountains of Quang Binh province. This ethnic group has changed markedly thanks to the implementation of developmental policies since they were discovered and settled in villages. Using the methods of in-depth interviews and participatory observations conducted through surveys in the community, with the theoretical approach to poststructuralism emphasizing the power and discourse of the State through the implementation of developmental policies to the Ruc community. The article focuses on presenting the changes within the Ruc community under the impact of various policies in the fields, including infrastructure, social welfare, crop cultivation and livestock farming, and the development of cultural, educational, and healthcare aspects of life. In addition, the article also discusses the effectiveness of policy enforcement. To enable the Ruc community to further develop in the current context, we propose several solutions to preserve and promote the economic and socio-cultural values of the Ruc ethnic group.