Ethnic, Religious and Social Bases of Community in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam

We know little about the Mekong delta's multi-ethnic and religiously diverse social landscape. What are the links between this region’s ethno-religious pluralism and its economic vitality? What capacity do its many ethnic and religious-based groups have for communicating across cultures and sustaining communities in a globalizing economy? The project attempts to explain the apparent paradox of the Mekong delta’s economic integration in the face of its pronounced ethno-religious complexity. It will address these questions in two ethnographic monographs, on the delta’s ethnic Khmer and middle class, and several articles on the ethnic Chinese, religious cosmopolitanism and urbanism.