The tragedy of the margins: land rights and marginal lands in Vietnam (c. 1800-1945)

This article deals with aspects of official land registers in pre-colonial and colonial Vietnam and their relationship with marginal lands since the eleventh century and especially since the beginning of the nineteenth century. The changing pattern of land ownership and control is studied in detail in one specific village in the Red River Delta of northern Vietnam. Several practices of land use and land distribution are discussed, as are various efforts in parts of Vietnam to expand agricultural land, in particular near rivers and coasts, especially as a result of land reclamation. The study of marginal lands is focused on alluvial lands, which were seen originally as empty or waste lands but gradually developed into safety nets for the poor. The traditional social function of these communal waste lands, managed by village elites, was eroded and became a tool for manipulation in the hands of state and village authorities.