Distilling Culture into Commodity? The Emergent Homemade Alcohol Trade and Gendered Livelihoods in Upland Northern Vietnam

Abstract

Ethnic minorities in the uplands of northern Vietnam are experiencing rapid state- and market-induced economic and agrarian transformations. These communities are having to make important livelihood adaptations to adjust, while living at Vietnam’s economic and political margins. We analyse one such market-induced transformation that some upland communities are deciding to engage with, connected to an increasing demand for locally distilled alcohol. Against the backdrop of traditional production for domestic consumption, distilled alcoholic beverages are now (re)emerging as a cash-earning opportunity. Drawing on interviews and observations with ethnic minority Hmong and Yao women and men in Lào Cai Province, we analyse the degree to which household members have engaged with this market opportunity and the often complex reasons behind their choices. We reveal how an apparently simple shift in scale of a customary activity generates nuanced cultural, gendered and generational debates that, at times, are at odds with mere profitability.

Keywords:

• Commoditisation
• Dao
• Distilled Alcohol
• Ethnic Minorities
• Gender
• Hmong
• Livelihoods
• Tourism
• Vietnam
• Yao

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the research participants for their time and discussions. We would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their comments on an earlier draft of this article and extend our gratitude to Diana Glazebrook for her editorial contributions. This work was carried out with the support of a postdoctoral fellowship from the Fonds de recherche du Québec–Société et Culture and Université Laval and with funds from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. We would like to acknowledge the additional field support of Dr Nguyen An Thinh, Vietnam National University.

Notes

1 Interview with Pham, Thanh Kim Commune, June 2017.

2 Interview with San, Tả Phìn Commune, June 2017.

3 Interview with Pang, Thanh Kim Commune, July 2016.

4 Interview with Fei, Tả Phìn, January 2019.

5 Interview with Lan, Sapa town, July 2017.

6 Interview with Lieu, Sapa town, October 2019.

7 Interview with Chi, Thanh Kim Commune, October 2019.

8 Interview with La May, Tả Phìn Commune, December 2018.