Street Vendors in Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Cities, 2019

The increasing dependence on street vending as a source of livelihood for people across urban spaces in countries like Cambodia and India continues to promote exciting areas of research in social sciences. Our study captures the narratives of street vendors (seen as the 'invisible' entrepreneurs), working in markets across Delhi (India) and Phnom Penh (Cambodia) and analyzes the inventory logistics of products sold by them, thereby, reflecting the complex nature of an inter-twined, existential relationship between what's classified as 'informal' and 'formal' in urban economies. The mutual interdependence seen in the governing dynamics of economic exchange (for example, in selling commodities and services across identified markets in Phnom Penh and Delhi), argues for a need to inclusively study urban ecosystems while addressing the needs of street vendors. This paper does so by incorporating ethnographic methods with a specific reference to street vending (as a commercial urban activity). Further, we emphasize on an epistemic need to cross-fertilize thought(s) and method(s) across social science disciplines to produce more of such urban narratives, exploring the inter-twined relationship between the 'informal' and 'formal' aspects of urban ecosystems.

Dialectical Anthropology, 2008

Since Vietnam's doi moi ("Renovation") reforms of 1986, the nation's nominally communist political economy now permits a domestic free market, private ownership, and participation in international free trade. Some epiphenomena of doi moi -urbanization, tourism, and the burgeoning informal economy -were brought into view this summer during a state campaign to rationalize urban space by eliminating street vending from some sectors of Hanoi.

Asia Pacific Viewpoint, 2000

Sa Pa market, in its current shape, is a typical mainland Southeast Asia highland market. Here, highland produce cultivated or gathered by montagnards dispersed in isolated hamlets is sold to, or exchanged with, other montagnards and lowlanders for various commodities and consumer goods. Over the last few years, a fast growing tourist influx has contributed to modifying the architecture and size of the marketplace, while the range of goods on display has increased to fit both direct and indirect tourist demand.

2006

Since Vietnam’s doi moi economic reforms were first implemented in the late 1980s, petty trading activities have reappeared and now flourish, gaining increasing visibility on the nation’s town and city streets. Today, mobile street vendors have become an integral feature of the cityscape of the national capital, Hanoi. In recent years, however, state discourses about the “modernization” (hien dai hoa) and “civilization” (van minh) of the urbanizing capital have resulted in various bans on the activities of these itinerant vendors who are increasingly becoming associated with notions of backwardness, underdevelopment, and disorder. In light of these significant processes, in my field research I will analyze how key actors including global investors, national policy makers, and local officials participate in managing and responding to mobile street vendors in Hanoi. Thus, I focus in particular on the daily encounters and experiences of mobile street vendors with representatives of the state. Besides an ethnographic account of vendors’ trading activities, I will also scrutinize aspects of belonging and social stratification.

Urban Studies, 2012

The alternative ‘diverse economies’ vision of J. K. Gibson-Graham and supporters regarding how people make a living outside the capitalist framework, lists street vendors and informal economies of the global South as potential components. This article critiques the relevance of this vision for street vendor livelihoods in a politically socialist locale, albeit one embracing neo-liberal modernity. In their drive to create a modern, 'civilised' capital, Vietnam's central government and Hanoi's municipal authorities have a particular image of security, orderliness and development. Street vendors disrupt this picture and since 2008 have been negotiating a ban in many preferred locales. Building upon urban livelihoods, everyday politics and resistance concepts, an analysis is made of in-depth interviews with itinerant and fixed-stall vendors to unravel their heterogeneous responses to such revanchist policies. Despite subtle covert and overt resistance tactics, the study reveals that celebrated 'community economies' and alternative economic visions remain rare in this context.

In: Global Encyclopaedia of Informality. Edited by Alena Ledeneva . UCL press. Vol 2. 110-114., 2018

The alternative ‘diverse economies’ vision of J. K. Gibson-Graham and supporters regarding how people make a living outside the capitalist framework, lists street vendors and informal economies of the global South as potential components. This article critiques the relevance of this vision for street vendor livelihoods in a politically socialist locale, albeit one embracing neo-liberal modernity. In their drive to create a modern, ‘civilised’ capital, Vietnam’s central government and Hanoi’s municipal authorities have a particular image of security, orderliness and development. Street vendors disrupt this picture and since 2008 have been negotiating a ban in many preferred locales. Building upon urban livelihoods, everyday politics and resistance concepts, an analysis is made of in-depth interviews with itinerant and fixed-stall vendors to unravel their heterogeneous responses to such revanchist policies. Despite subtle covert and overt resistance tactics, the study reveals that celebrated ‘community economies’ and alternative economic visions remain rare in this context.

2001

The UMP-Asia Occasional Papers are published periodically by the Urban Management Programme Regional Office for Asia-Pacific (UMP-Asia) with funding support from UNDP and several bilateral assistance agencies.