Remaking markets in the mountains: integration, trader agency and resistance in upland northern Vietnam
Author(s):
Bonnin, Christine; Turner, Sarah
Format:
Journal article
Citation:
Journal Of Peasant Studies, Volume 41, Issue 3 (2014-05). pp. 321-342.
Language:
English
Abstract:
As part of an ongoing agenda by Vietnamese lawmakers and local state officials to accelerate market integration in the northern mountains, rural marketplaces are being physically and managerially restructured according to standard state-approved models. Moreover, these market directives are coherent with the 'distance demolishing technologies' that James Scott (2009) suggests the state has implemented to bring these uplands more directly under its panoptic gaze. This integration strategy seldom meshes well with upland livelihood needs. In this paper we examine a number of power contestations currently unfolding as upland market traders - both Vietnamese and ethnic minorities - negotiate or resist these developments while striving to maintain meaningful livelihoods.