“Run and Hide When You See the Police”: Livelihood Diversification and the Politics of the Street Economy in Vietnam’s Northern Uplands

Abstract

This chapter explores the everyday negotiations required for ethnic minority street vendors working in Sapa, a tourist town in upland northern Vietnam, to eke out a livelihood in an especially prescribed environment. These individuals, mostly women, face a local political environment where access and institutional requirements shift on a near-daily basis due to the impulses of state officials, and where ethnicity is key to determining who gets to vend, where, and how. A focus on the micro-geographies and everyday politics of itinerant trade in this rapidly growing tourist site reveals specific relationships and negotiations regarding resource access, ethnicity, state authority, and livelihood strategies.