Museums and minority communities in Vietnam: Diversity, development, and politics in Southeast Asia

博物馆与社区的关系已成为当今博物馆研究和博物馆实践的重要课题之一，博物馆在社区社会生活中的社会功能，特别是在教育和社区发展方面的社会功能，引起了学术界越来越大的兴趣（即Golding & Modest，2013; Iorio & Wall，2011; Levin & Adair，2017; Palumbo，2001;Silverman，2014）。博物馆一直被视为社会机构（Silverman，2014），景点（Iorio & Wall，2011）和社会代理人（Palumbo，2001年），反映当地社区的社会文化生活，包括冲突和政治问题，并向公众展示当地和全球知识，包括文化价值观。少数民族在保存其传统文化价值观方面面临着许多挑战，特别是在文化和生活方式改变的影响下。这一点在发展中国家，包括在东南亚这个多文化和多种族区域的发展中国家尤为明显。这一背景要求博物馆作为“接触区”（Clifford，2005），更有力地展示和肯定其在保护文化方面的作用，尤其是在连接和保护少数民族文化方面的作用。虽然有很多关于博物馆和社区的研究，但大多数研究都是基于西方国家的案例研究，而亚洲国家的博物馆系统则较少受到关注。许多关于越南博物馆的研究倾向于假定博物馆的权威性质（Tai 1998）。本研究旨在填补东南亚地区博物馆文献的差距，同时深入分析博物馆在支持少数民族文化价值观方面的社会作用。这也是一个重要的研究项目，探索不同管理机制和治理形式（国家，城市和私人）的博物馆如何介绍，保护和连接少数民族-他们的来源社区。

The relationship between museums and their communities has become one of themajor subjects in museum studies and museum practice nowadays, resulting in agrowing scholarly interest in the social functions of museums in the social life ofcommunities, especially regarding education and community development (i.e.Golding & Modest, 2013; Iorio & Wall, 2011; Levin & Adair, 2017; Palumbo, 2001;Silverman, 2014). Museums have been viewed as social institutions (Silverman,2014), attractions (Iorio & Wall, 2011), and social agents (Palumbo, 2001) thatreflect the socio-cultural life of local communities, including conflicts and politicalissues and present local and global knowledge, including cultural values, to thepublic.In the current globalization context, ethnic minority groups face many challenges inpreserving their traditional cultural values, especially under the influence ofacculturation and lifestyle change. This is especially evident in developing countries,including those in Southeast Asia, a multicultural and multiracial region. Thiscontext requires museums, which are considered as "contact zones" (Clifford, 2005)to show and affirm more strongly their role in preserving culture in general andconnecting and preserving the culture of minority and ethnic groups in particular.This research will focus on the relation between museums and minority communitiesin Vietnam, a country with 54 ethnic groups. Although there are many studies onmuseums and communities, most research has been based on case studies in Westerncountries while museum systems in Asian countries are given less attraction. Muchresearch on Vietnamese museums tends to assume the authoritarian nature ofmuseums (Tai 1998). This research project aims to fill the gap in the literature formuseums in Southeast Asia while providing an in-depth analysis of the social roleof the museum in supporting the cultural values of minority groups. This is also animportant research project in exploring how museums with different managementmechanisms and forms of governance (state, city, and private) introduce, preserve,and connect to ethnic minorities - their source community.