4 - The Redivision of Labour in a Red River Delta Village in a Globalized Economy

Summary

Vietnam's rural population is changing enormously as the country increasingly integrates with the global economy. Some of the most radical of these changes are occuring in migration patterns, a redistribution of labour, and the status of women. This chapter aims to analyze these changes in greater depth by investigating a traditional craft village in northern Vietnam. How have livelihoods transformed in the craft village? What are the mechanisms of migration into and out of the village? How are gender divisions of labour changing in the village?

This great transition in agricultural livelihoods in Vietnam began earlier, of course, starting with initial decollectivization in the early 1980s and more recent acceleration via land reforms in the early 1990s. In the Red River Delta region, where the field research for this chapter was carried out, rural livelihoods have been transformed further by state rural industrialization policies, especially those aimed at reviving and developing traditional craft villages. As the slogan goes, “leaving the rice field, but not the countryside” (ly nong bat ly huong). As a result, rural people no longer rely on farming as a sole source of income, and their livelihood strategies have increasingly focused on non-agricultural activities.

Under Doi Moi's move toward a market-oriented economy, state regulations on rural labour have been loosened so that people can independently make decisions about their occupations and workplaces. Thus, Doi Moi policies have also propelled domestic labour migration flows. Labour migration patterns have become complex as can be seen in the case of traditional craft villages such as Kim Thieu in the Red River Delta where my research was conducted; not only do villagers migrate to work and do business elsewhere, including inland and abroad, but a number of migrants from other regions come to make their living in these villages as regular/long-term or casual contract labourers. Labour relations have also become more complex, with several concurrent and sometimes contradictory systems running — capitalist principles alongside a subsistence economy, as well as reciprocal relationships and patron–client exploitation.