IN VIETNAM 127
one under socialism ? What priority do socialists place on women's liberation ? The Vietnamese definition of liberation focuses on economic security, right to work at a job, health, education, rest, equal rights and freedom from polygamy and other patriarchal traditions. They also point to the need for an ideological struggle that would undermine the psychological subordination of women. For them the oppressors are not so much men as feudalists, colonialists and imperialists. This is where the unity of colonised people and poor peasants is reflected in the struggle for revolutionary change.
The feminist programme, on the other hand, in its universalised form, lists its priorities as (i) women's control over their bodies relating to sexual relations, rpotherhood, health, education, violence, etc., (ii) Freedom of choice in marriage, democracy within the family, and sharing of domestic responsibility, (iii) equal access to jobs and political leadership, equal pay, privileges, (iv) respect in the popular culture for "feminine" qualities. Eisen does not consider it "anthropologically sound" to impose such universajisa-tion of goals on Vietnamese women. She seems to be making some political concessions of the Feminist viewpoint after her current Vietnamese study although she questions the logic, arguments and political perspective of.the voice of Vietnamese women—the Women's Union.
The book is divided into two sections, 'Roots of Women's Oppression' which provides the historical context and * Seeds of Emancipation' which analyses the conditions that make liberation possible in Vietnam. The conclusion is a portrait of progress on the women's front—a reflection of unity, organisation and vision not only in defending but also in expanding the rights that have been won.
N.R.