Rob Swinkels and Carrie Turk, World Bank, Vietnam Draft Background paper for CEM/ MPI meeting on Ethnic Minority Poverty Hanoi, 28 September 2006. | Many officials, researchers and the media use language that suggests that the culture and behaviour of ethnic minorities are backward and tradition-bound. Widespread acceptance of this view in society at large has a number of possible consequences. First, once it is accepted that the culture of one group is somehow more advanced than the cultures of others, there is less incentive to include ethnic minorities in decisions that are designed to help them. An example of this lies in the past implementation of the program 135, where there has been a reluctance to decentralize project management to the commune level when the districts believe that the commune lack the skills or knowledge to make the correct decisions. Secondly, these attitudes can lead to development interventions that are appropriate for the dominant culture, but not always suitable for the minority cultures. An example of this includes the introduction of agricultural models derived from Kinh farming systems into ethnic minority farming systems. This is also exemplified in the sedentarisation policies of government. Finally, some studies suggest that these attitudes can have a negative effect on the self-esteem of minority groups. Continual exposure to material that describes their practices as “backward” may alienate ethnic minority groups and discourage their participation in public life.
