Thirteenth International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

Abstract

This paper explores some of the interrelations that occur between Vietnam’s peasant economy and the wider economy in which it is rooted. In doing so it focuses on the labour migration impacts on agricultural production during the reform period through a case study of Mai Thon village, Bac Ninh province in Northern Vietnam. Since reforms were first introduced, many villagers have left Mai Thon to work in cities, industrial zones, or to find employment abroad. The migration process has transformed labour structures and supply in rural households, leading to changes in household across three main dimensions. First, renting or exchanging agricultural land has become common between households in Mai Thon village rather than selling. This renting/exchanging of agricultural land helps to re-distribute land among households which have different labour capitals. It permits rural households on one hand earning extra money from world economy, on the other hand keeping their land as an insurance for their autonomy. Second, various forms of labour exchanges and labour arrangement have emerged rather than dependence on labour market. Thirdly, remittance from migration helps to improve household income, and then reduce the need for peasants on selling their agricultural production for cash, which would increase for their own food sovereignty. Migration, therefore, amplifies the autonomy of peasant families and their units of production as a response to the globalization process.