Globalization, industrialization, and labor markets in Vietnam

What is it about?

Reaching the Vietnamese goal of a ‘civilized and equitable’ society moved away from central planning towards a ‘socialist market economy under state guidance’ with deeper integration into the global capitalist system, beginning in 1986. Using statistical data, historical contexts and industrial policies, and fieldwork interviews (from 1980s to 2014), we focus on two important labor-intensive, export-based industries: the long-established textile/garment industry and the emerging electronics industry, which surpassed textile exports in 2013. These two case studies delve into different stages of industrial policy, which is more defined in the textile/garment case and underdeveloped in the electronics case. Each has had a significant effect on the global market, but at what cost to workers?

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