Research on boarding house dwellers
From: Adrian Daniel Klaus <adrian.klaus@bluewin.ch>
Reply-To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
To: vsg@u.washington.edu
Date: Sat, Mar 8, 2008 at 12:29 AM
Dear list
We are two jun. scholars from University of Applied Sciences Munich, Germany and presently conducting a research on the communities of boarding house dwellers in the surroundings of Industrial Zones in Greater Ho-Chi-Minh area (HCM and Binh Duong). We are focusing on aspects like mutual help, self organization, trust among the dwellers. At the moment, besides struggling with several difficulties, we are looking for some experts, NGO’s or officials with an affiliation to the topic for interviews. Of special interest would also be the legal situation of boarding houses and governmental strategies to handle it. I’ve figured that it isn’t easy at all. Even though economic growth, expansion of Industrial Zones or mobilizing workforce are well discussed topics it is very hard to find experts on the topic of community development of these fast growing areas. So if anybody had some ideas or contacts I would highly appreciate it.
Best regards
Adrian Klaus
Ps: working title of the research: “Living Conditions in the Community of Boarding House Dwellers in the surroundings of Industrial Zones - A perspective of a potential Community Development in the Greater Ho-Chi-Minh Area, Viet Nam”
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From: Nhu Miller <trantnhu@gmail.com>
Reply-To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Date: Mon, Mar 10, 2008 at 10:55 AM
There is an excellent documentary film "Dreams of Workers" by Tran
Phuong Thao about the women who work at the Canon factory near
Ha noi. When the director showed the movie, she brought along several
of the women featured in the film who spoke of their living conditions in
the boarding houses and their work conditions also. Thao is fluent
in French. You might email her
at: "Thao Tran" <tpthao1977@yahoo.fr>. She can connect you with
the women living in boarding houses.
It would be interesting to look into how much people must pay the
middle person to obtain these jobs. According to this film, workers
can only work a few years (till the age of 27?) before they are replaced.
T.T.Nhu
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From: Christoph Giebel <giebel@u.washington.edu>
Reply-To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Date: Mon, Mar 10, 2008 at 11:16 AM
At last year's AAS meeting, Angie Ngoc Tran of California State University, Monterey Bay gave a paper on "New Space for Collective Action: Local Labor Unions and Newspapers in Response to Workers' Strikes in Vietnam." Prof. Tran's work might be of interest to you.
Christoph Giebel
UW-Seattle
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