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Single Moms in Vietnam: An Approach in Resistance Studies

par Murru, Sarah
Président du jury Paternotte, David
Promoteur Nahavandy, Firouzeh
Publication Non publié, 2016-03-07

Thèse de doctorat

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Résumé :

Vietnam is characterized by ambivalences. Its history has been marked by colonialism andextremely destructive wars. Nevertheless, thanks to its renovation program (Doi Moi), thecountry has succeeded to rise from a status of “developing nation” to the one of a competitiveeconomic actor in the global market. Surprisingly Vietnam has entered the capitalist economywhile maintaining its authoritarian communist regime. Thus, while the population hasexperienced an increase in its purchasing power, and is being accustomed to capitalist goodsand services, many of its rights and privileges are still restricted by Government measures.This inevitably has an effect on social relations. Among others, on the status of women whichis characterized by similar ambivalences. On the one side, the communist regime hasencouraged women to work and occupy more space in society. Equality between men andwomen is acknowledged through its body of laws, the creation of specific institutions (such asthe Women’s Union), and the signature of international conventions protecting women (likeCEDAW). On the other side, Vietnamese society is still marked by strong conservatism andpatriarchy inherited from Confucianism, which severely constrains women’s rights andfreedoms. A phenomenon particularly enforced through the traditional institution of theFamily where women are still expected to be the servants of their husbands and other familymembers, including in-laws.In this context, I have observed a particular social phenomenon: the growing number ofSingle Moms (the expression is the translation of the Vietnamese label). Be it as the result ofa divorce, or of an unwanted pregnancy, or again as a deliberate choice to get pregnant andraise a child alone, more and more women are choosing this path of independence from thetraditional family. Therefore, this dissertation aimed to address the different power relationsto which Vietnamese Single Moms are resisting, and to unveil the means they are employingto challenge them in that process. Two field trips in the province of Hanoi allowed me todevelop an interdisciplinary and intersectional study that was grounded in the subjects’standpoint and experience of subordination and marginalization. In turn, this gave way to thepossibility of locating and understanding their empowerment, and the social spaces they havegained thanks to resistance. In that frame, by crossing methods of inquiry, and categories ofdifferences, I highlighted how Single Moms are resisting various power relations in the publicsphere, the private sphere, as well as in translocal sites (through internet), and how all levelsare interconnected. This analysis being situated in the particular context I’ve described.The dissertation concluded on epistemological considerations for the study of gender andresistance today.