EAN: 9781433102158

IN SEARCH OF MORAL AUTHORITY - VAN NGUYEN-MARSH...

In Search of Moral Authority: The Discourse on Poverty  Poor Relief  and Charity in French
Colonial Vietnam is a pioneering exploration of the discourses on poverty and poor-relief
activities in early twentieth-century Northern Vietnam. Treating poverty as a socially
constructed idea  Van Nguyen-Marshall argues that poor relief was a domain where both French
colonialists and Vietnamese intellectuals vied for moral authority. For the French colonial
officials  poor relief fell within the purview of the French «civilizing» mission  the official
justification for imperialism. However  the colonial agenda  racial prejudices  and the French
administrators' own ambivalent attitudes toward the poor made any attempt at poor relief doomed
for failure. For Vietnamese intellectuals  the discourse and activities on poor relief became a
rallying call for patriotism  nationalism  and  for some  anti-colonialism. In Search of Moral
Authority deals with social issues such as charity and poor relief  as well as the construction
of national and gender identity by Vietnamese intellectuals. This book is essential reading for
students and specialists of Vietnamese history as well as those interested in issues of poverty
public welfare  and charity.

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