Rules and Resources: Negotiating the Household Registration System in Vietnam under Reform

Under Vietnam's subsidy system that lasted until the late 1980s, the state made many decisions about people's lives. Among these rules were those on household registration (ho khau), which closely regulated people's movement. The doi moi reforms dismantled the state's hold on employment, but the ho khau system administered by the police remained an important tool of control over the population. It is used for the purposes of identification, eligibility for state employment, and police work, as well as to restrict migration into the cities. This article argues that the limited room for manoeuvre around the household registration system before reform has greatly expanded since the 1980s. The resources that ordinary people drew upon to negotiate the state's attempts to control their place of residence have also undergone a transformation. While contacts were always necessary for any negotiation with officialdom before doi moi, these have become increasingly commercialized. The need for their use, however, has diminished as people find it convenient in many circumstances to ignore the rules.