Social changes of the Coho-Cil in Lam Dong Province

Abstract

Lam Dong is located in the central highlands of Vietnam, where many ethnic groups reside. In the 1960s, the Republic of Vietnam forced ethnic groups, including the Coho-Cil, to leave their bon (village) to live in concentration in Strategic Hamlets. Most of the bon (villages) were divided and relocated into newly-organized administrative hamlets. After the Unification in 1975, the current government proposed a fixed cultivation, residence program, and a model of collective economic development called “tậpđoànsảnxuất (the group of agricultural production)”. In post-DoiMoi (renovation) in 1986, the Cil have been favorably influenced by the DoiMoi policy of developing a multi-sector economy and independent household economy to cultivate coffee, high-yield corn, and persimmons. For the last 50 years, the Cil have experienced their historical process of tremendous social change. The main objective of this paper is to clarify the social structure and social changing process of the Coho-Cil in Lam Dong provice.