Worldwide, national identities are challenged by fast technological and economic transitions, political polarization and cultural changes. Vietnam is strengthening its national identity by a fascinating multiyear process of national values dialogue. Vietnam’s current socialist model, incorporating a socialist-oriented market economy, a rule-of law socialist state, and a socialist democracy, is looking at the integration of its traditional cultural values with future orientations. This volume includes 32 articles of authors from Vietnam, but also China, Europe and the Philippines. They cover a broad range of topics, from culture to family, from socialism to patriotism, from justice to wealth, from history to international integration. The contributions are the result of the International Conference on “National Values in the New Context”, held in July 2023 in Hanoi.

This book reflects on the process of constructing a curriculum for Vietnam studies designed for educators and researchers in the field of social studies. Based on a selection of scholarly works, proceeds of seminars and conferences on education inside and outside Vietnam, the English edition proposes an analysis on factors that affect the learning environment of Vietnam as a young nation in the context of globalisation. The texts presented cover a large spectrum of subjects, starting with the changes in the educational and cultural background of Cochinchina under the French colonial period, visiting the role of higher education in an economy in transition, including the major literary trends in the pre-1975 Southern Vietnam modernisation process, among others. Transcripts of seminars and conferences reflect participants’ visions on the future of Vietnamese education, with the editor’s comments as takeaways at the end of each section.