Earl, Catherine (2008) Longing and belonging : an ethnographic study of migration, cultural capital and social change among Ho Chi Minh City's re-emerging middle classes. PhD thesis, Victoria University.

Abstract

Almost 20 years ago, Vietnam introduced doi mai ('renovation') reforms that opened the economy and the society to new possibilities. Among the new possibilities were increasing opportunities for young, unmarried women in the urban labour market, opportunities which drove a 'third wave' of mass urban migration in the 1990s. Ho Chi Minh City has long been the most desired destination for migrants in Vietnam. Opportunities for professional work, further education, and leisure lifestyling lure young migrants, particularly those with education, to post-doi mai Ho Chi Minh City, where, so long as they remain single, they are able to realize aspirations for betterment that affect not only their own lives, but those of their families and communities. The thesis, firstly, aims to clarify what it means to be middle-class in post-doi mai urban Vietnam; and secondly, aims to consider the possibilities of postsocialism in Vietnam, especially in urban social life.

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