(October 24) Presentation on the Market in Mountainous Regions

TopicMarkets in mountainous regions: Exploring the geography of market exchange, trade, and livelihoods in the mountainous areas of Northern Vietnam.

Presenter: Christine Bonnin (Ph.D. Candidate, Geography Department, McGill University, Montreal, Canada)

Time9:00 AM, October 24, 2008 (Friday).

LocationMultimedia Room, Museum of Anthropology, 3rd Floor, Building D, 336 Nguyen Trai Street, Thanh Xuan District, Hanoi.

SummaryIn the mountainous regions of northern Vietnam, markets remain an important hub for local residents to exchange and trade goods and other necessities. Furthermore, markets serve as platforms for remote minority communities to build and maintain their social networks. However, to date, research indicates that informal exchange systems in rural areas have not been adequately studied. Meanwhile, rural markets and small-scale commercial activities often play a crucial role in local development, and these trading networks are considered a valuable analytical point for understanding market integration processes at the micro level and how livelihoods are constrained by structural limitations, while also considering local actors in resisting, negotiating, and even forming forces at the meso and macro levels. The author's research objective is to explore the complex relationships, dynamics, and transformations of markets and livelihood activities in Lao Cai province in northern Vietnam. In this presentation, the author will first summarize the basis of her research, then discuss the experiences of a foreign female graduate student conducting fieldwork in the mountainous regions of Vietnam over the past two years. Specifically, the author will analyze recent discussions in the research literature on methodological issues, particularly regarding subjective concepts, reflexive thinking, and personality, and explore the role these issues play and how they are discussed in her research.