Chittenden, Thomas, authorLeisz, Stephen J., advisorCohen, Adrienne J., committee memberLuna, Jessie K., committee member2025-06-022026-05-282025https://hdl.handle.net/10217/240968This thesis project examines the relationship between ongoing processes of land reform, economic liberalization, and livelihood strategies among ethnic minority uplanders in the northern mountain region of Vietnam. Đổi Mới, roughly translating to "renovation" describes a period of economic liberalization beginning in 1986. Since the beginning of the Đổi Mới reforms, the Vietnamese government has passed a series of land laws intended to dissolve the collective agricultural system enforced during the revolutionary (1946 - 1975) and state socialist periods (1976 - 1986). De-collectivization in the northern uplands involves extensive land allocation. Land previously managed by agricultural collectives is distributed to households via the issuance of land use rights certificates. Land use rights certificates define land boundaries and dictate acceptable land uses based on officially recognized land cover types. Land reform in the uplands is accompanied by the continuance and intensification of anti-swidden (slash and burn) policies and initiatives, which date back to the French colonial period. In Tat, a small ethnic minority Tây community in the Hòa Bình province of the northern mountain region, uplander reactions to land reform have brought about significant transformations within the local livelihood system to meet the demands of a rising market economy. Based on semi-structured interviews, transect walks and field notes produced after a research trip to Tat, I argue that the customary practice of swidden agriculture has played an important role in new state systems for upland resource extraction despite its official discouragement. Further, I argue that ethnic minority uplanders define the process of land reform itself by negotiating, defying, or ignoring the enforcement of land use rights certificates. The results of this project pose important insights into the ongoing, informal processes that ultimately shape the influence of government policy at the local level.born digitalmasters thesesengCopyright and other restrictions may apply. User is responsible for compliance with all applicable laws. For information about copyright law, please see https://libguides.colostate.edu/copyright.land reformresistanceVietnamland useDoi Moiswidden agricultureTextEmbargo expires: 05/28/2026.