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Gender, Property, and the “Autonomy Thesis” in Southeast Asia: The Endowment of Local Succession in Early Modern Vietnam
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 February 2008
Abstract
The claim that Vietnamese inheritance patterns were bilateral and indicative of wider patterns of Southeast Asian women's autonomy or Vietnamese protonational uniqueness reflect major themes in the historiography on Vieệtnam. Past scholarship suggests that lawmakers of the Lê (1427–1783) and Mạc (1527–60) dynasties codified bilateral succession practices, attesting to the relative autonomy that Vietnamese women shared with their Southeast Asian counterparts. This essay challenges the claims of bilateralism and argues that Lê dynasty law, local custom, and legal practice preserved the principles of patrilineal succession. Though the language and adjudication of the law limited daughters' succession rights, ironically, these restrictions on their private rights enabled women to carve out spaces of authority in village economic and religious life. To avoid the transfer of their property to male relatives, some women instead transferred property to local institutions in order to lay claim over their personal property and to ensure the maintenance of their ancestral rites in perpetuity. In effect, rather than a system that elevated women's status, the property regime served as a site of contestation in which women could claim large economic and religious roles in local settings.
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- Research Article
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- Copyright
- Copyright © The Association for Asian Studies, Inc. 2008
References
List of References
- CATNBP:
Công Án Tra Nghiệm Bí Pháp
- CTVKCC:
Chúc Thư Văn Khế Cửu Chỉ
- HDTCT:
Hông Đức Thiện Chính Thư
- QTHL:
Quốc Triều Hình Luật
Công Án Tra Nghiệm Bí Pháp
Chúc Thư Văn Khế Cửu Chỉ
Hông Đức Thiện Chính Thư
Quốc Triều Hình Luật
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