Summary
Traditional markets (chợ) in Vietnam provide a nice, encapsulated entrée into Vietnamese society and culture. As Western-style supermarkets are starting to appear in cities, we pondered what this means for traditional markets and thought about the social, economic and environmental sustainability of traditional forms of food and goods provision. We visited two typical Vietnamese markets in Ho Chi Minh City: Chợ Tân Định and Chợ Thị Nghè. Students took this opportunity to try out observational research. They chose one issue or object on which to focus and explored it while walking through these two markets. These posts share their insights into this experience.
Posts
Specialization vs Generality: Observing Food Vendor Diversity (9/16/2014) - As a class, we decided to delve into the markets of Ho Chi Minh City and observe the day to day economics within the markets and different facets that the participants experience. At the markets I decided to observe the produce vendors and the products that they were selling. By focusing on the type of […]
Observational Study: Non-Vietnamese Symbols in the Marketplace (9/7/2014) - Here is the link to my first blog post about the use of English and Western symbolism in Vietnamese markets.