Policing in a Changing Vietnam

The construction of a Southern perspective of policing is a work in progress that is both ambitious and daunting. In this remarkable book, Melissa Jardine has taken us further than most contemporary researchers into this uncharted territory. Overcoming language, cultural, political and other major barriers to researching police culture in a foreign country, Dr Jardine mobilises her professional knowledge, academic rigour, empathetic attitudes and personal determination to bring out this ground-breaking research that is both highly readable and deeply challenging.

Janet Chan, Emeritus Professor, UNSW Faculty of Law and Justice, Australia

The minute I told my colleague, a Vietnam scholar, about this manuscript, he immediately said he must have a copy, or else… This manuscript will be an important addition to the literature of Vietnam studies as it opens windows of light to illuminate on an aspect of Vietnamese society that few researchers have had opportunities enjoyed by Jardine. The police in Vietnam is so Janus-faced that it is possible to condemn and to commend them simultaneously. Law and order in Vietnam would probably have been much worse if not for their strong arms but strong arms are also throwing the police into moral disrepute. This speaks well indeed to the North-South differences. Understanding the revolutionary background and the actual state of governance of the armed forces in Vietnam brings readers a sense of sympathy for the Vietnamese police. I commend and recommend this work for both the serious academic as well as for the policy activist who wish to understand the difficulties the police in Vietnam face.

David Koh, VinUniversity, Vietnam

Through her captivating prose, Dr Melissa Jardine brings Vietnamese mythology and folklore to life to explore the consistencies, conflicts and contradictions women in modern Vietnam face – especially as they relate to women in policing. Reflections on her own experience as a police officer are also deeply moving and thought-provoking. I truly appreciate Dr Jardine for her extraordinary contribution to gender studies in Viet Nam.

Khuat Thu Hong, Institute for Social Development Studies, Vietnam

As the world is in turmoil and we are looking for new concepts of community safety and well-being, it is important to widen our perspective beyond the Global North. This in-depth study of police education, training and practices in Vietnam is proof of the importance of investigating alternative roles and concepts of policing in the Global South.

Auke van Dijk, Strategist with the Police of the Netherlands; board member of Global Law Enforcement and Public Health Association (GLEPHA).