Disaster, Societal Responses, and State Legitimacy in Crisis in Vietnam

Abstract

This article examines the role of celebrity activism in post-disaster politics in the context of state authoritarianism in Vietnam. In late 2020, a chain of violent tropical storms hit Vietnam’s central highland region – host to hundreds of hydropower dams – triggering severe landslides and floods that devastated human lives and local livelihoods. Drawing on data gathered through social media, online platforms, and interviews with non-governmental organisations and private sector actors, this article shows how the rupture of these disaster events facilitated socio-political openings in state–society relations that might otherwise have remained closed. It explores these political contestations, attributions of blame, and the competing recovery efforts that emerged between government actors, celebrities, and citizens. Public debates over the natural and political catalysts of the disaster revealed major structural and governance problems for the state, which allowed voluntary charity work by a celebrity to supplement state functions during the disaster. Considered illegal under state law, the article shows how support from the public and lower tiers of government for private charity work challenged state legitimacy. Under pressure from within and from citizens, the central government had to amend its policies to accommodate voluntary disaster relief – to restore its flagging legitimacy.

Key Words:

• Celebrity
• disaster
• rupture
• state legitimacy
• state–society relations

Acknowledgements

We appreciate the valuable comments from the editor and anonymous reviewers. Thanks to Sophie Dowling for editorial help.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 There exists no media in Vietnam that is independent of government.

2 In 2022 the government arrested three leaders of environmental NGOs. These arrests led some people to believe that the environment has become a sensitive topic in the country and to other speculation that the reasons for the arrests do not have a clear link to the environment. Discussion about these arrests go beyond the scope of this article.

3 Zalo is an app established in 2012 that is widely used in Vietnam as a chat platform.

4 Information and details on Thuy Tien’s relief activities mostly draws on her Facebook page and articles published by a range of Vietnamese newspapers.

5 Indeed, the recent arrests of local environmental NGO leaders has removed some of the hope that the political spaces created by networked actors might be maintained into the future. Useful reports of these arrests were carried by The Guardian (February 10, 2022) and the New York Times (June 17, 2022), among others.

Additional information

Funding

This research is supported by the Australian Research Council (DP 180101495: Rupture: Nature-society Transformations in Mainland Southeast Asia). The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Australian Government or the Australian Research Council.