European Vietnam Studies Conference
3-5 May 1995
Aix-en-Provence, France

VIETNAM: SOURCES AND APPROACHES 

During the Vietnam Studies Conference held in Copenhagen in
August 1993 under the patronage of NIAS, it was decided that
Aix-en-Provence would be the venue for the next international
meeting on Vietnam Studies in the spring of 1995.

This meeting will be organized jointly by the following
institutions based in Aix:
Institut de Recherche sur le Sud Est Asiatique, IRSEA
Centre des Archives d'Outre-Mer, CAOM
Institut d'Histoire des Pays d'Outre-Mer, IHPOM
University of Provence, Centre d'Aix
The conference will be an interdisciplinary event. It will
address the question of research methodology as a complementary
aspect of the sources of investigation. The various sources of
information and documentation can only be understood through the
implementation of certain approaches. They also underline the
question of the reason for the intellectual attraction generated
by Vietnam, in spite of all the differences in culture and
language.
This very broad subject matter should be of interest to all
scholars and researchers in the Social Sciences. The variety of
archival sources, in France, Vietnam, the United States, and
elsewhere point to the wealth, as well as revealing the gaps, in
the historical choices and ways of communication. Such a matter
involves not only the 'key-document', written or spoken, but also
all kinds of data, from statistics collected by the economist to
the fieldwork results obtained by sociologists and
anthropologists.

RESEARCH TOPICS

SOURCES
Whether well known or as yet untapped, the sources are abundant
and they are located in a number of countries. A few archival
reserves have been opened to scholars for the first time
recently. There are yet other collections which have been
exploited for a long time but still contain little-known
information. The fact that these resources and materials are
widely scattered makes it difficult for researchers to obtain a
clear idea of their worth and potentialities. Undertakings such
as those sponsored by the International Council of Archives
(General State of Documentary Funds on Asia with three volumes on
French sources and on sources from other countries) require a
specific presentation that would inform scholars on the
potentialities of each centre.
As the interest in Vietnam grows, so does the number of
documentation centres. An introduction to and a comprehensive
description of each centre seem to be necessary.

APPROACHES
Participants are invited to share in a general reflexion on the
kinds of investigations about Vietnam undertaken in the field of
the Social Sciences. The conference will address the question of
the validity of the conceptual tools used by the Social Sciences
involved in Vietnam. Ways of organizing interdisciplinary
approaches on a permanent rather than incidental basis should
emerge. This will enable us to outline similar approaches and
bring together various forces as well as to understand the
reasons some topics rather than others are selected in a certain
field, through the application of a different kind of outlook. In
other words, we would like to compare the focus in interest of
the different Social Sciences. We would like to know what other
social scientists do in their respective fields. By comparing
approaches and methodologies we might be able to identify the
fields that have yet to be explored more specifically.

Presentations will be organized according to four main topics:
1) Institutional and Political life
2) Anthropology
3) Economics
4) International Relations
The conference will consist of both plenary sessions and
workshops, devoted to developing the various subjects in more
detail. The publication of the papers is planned.

Many researchers have already announced their participation to
the meeting during which they will present their recent work: W.
Clarence-Smith, G. Condominas, Ch. Fourniau, Ph. Langlet, Ch.
MacDonald, D. Marr, Nguyen Thˆ Anh, Phan Huy Lˆ, Cl. Salmon, S.
Tūnnesson, Trinh Van Thao and several other Vietnamese scholars.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Philippe Le Failler and Jean Marie Mancini
Institut de Recherche sur le Sud-Est Asiatique
389 Avenue du Club Hippique
130984 Aix-en-Provence
Cedex 2, France
Tel: +33-42 95 16 60
Fax: +33-42 20 82 10