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Law and Precariousness in an Authoritarian State: The Case of Illegal House Construction in Vietnam
Author(s) -
Nguyen Tu Phuong
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
law and policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.534
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1467-9930
pISSN - 0265-8240
DOI - 10.1111/lapo.12143
Subject(s) - authoritarianism , discretion , state (computer science) , law , political science , subject (documents) , vulnerability (computing) , compassion , law and economics , sociology , democracy , politics , computer security , algorithm , computer science , library science
While sociolegal research in authoritarian regimes has examined the cultural and regulatory factors accounting for why and how people bypass, manipulate, or resist the law, little attention has been paid to an important double‐edged effect of law in legitimating and sanctioning subversive or illegal behavior. Through an examination of illegal house construction in peri‐urban Vietnam, this study fills this gap by drawing attention to the relationship between law and precariousness. Precariousness influences individuals’ perceptions of and behavior toward the law; at the same time, however, law creates and reinforces precariousness, a condition of vulnerability and uncertainty subject to the local state's discretion and compassion.