Consumption and Vietnam’s New Middle Classes

This book studies the dramatic changes in consumption patterns in Vietnam over the past decades, combining a focus on everyday practices and societal transformations. Zooming in on the new urban middle classes, and through in-depth case studies in the realms of mobility, food and energy, the book brings new insights to some of the most urgent global sustainability challenges. Based on a decade of research in Vietnam, the book aims to contribute to better understanding one of the most fascinating ‘development success stories’ in the world. It introduces the term ‘consumer socialism’ to analyse some of the contradictions embedded in the socialist market economy. Simultaneously, the book aims to contribute to strengthening consumption research in and on emerging economies, and for this purpose develops a theoretical approach focusing on social practices and the political economy of consumption.

"An engaging voyage awaits the reader, who will instantly be drawn into what Hansen defines as ‘consumer socialism’ in urban Vietnam. His empirical investigations focus on mundane activities, while extending outwards to consider the systems of production and provision that make some forms of consumption more plausible than others. By spatializing consumption and production, Hansen describes patterns that are significant in environmental and social terms, such as eating meat or motor biking. A must-read for scholars interested in sustainable consumption dynamics in the global south, this book also provides essential conceptual handles for understanding everyday life dynamics in late capitalism."

--Marlyne Sahakian, Associate Professor, Sociology Department, University of Geneva, Switzerland

"Arve Hansen’s book presents a pathbreaking new concept, “consumer socialism”, that weaves readers comfortably and clearly through the complexities of Vietnamese society. This monograph develops a novel analysis of how the lifeworlds of everyday Vietnamese shape rather than respond to contemporary Vietnamese communism. And in its rich ethnographic detail Hansen invites us to the tables, streetsides, roads, and passenger seats of a country in the midst of an extraordinary moment in its history."

--Jamie Gillen, Director and Senior Lecturer in Global Studies, University of Auckland, New Zealand

"This book provides a critical sociological approach to understanding changes in everyday consumption practices in Vietnam in the context of transformations in the political economy. Transitioning from a communist regime into a capitalist society Vietnam has experienced a spectacular development of economic growth and prosperity. Though being applauded, the rise of modern lifestyles is accompanied by environmental degradation. Hansen offers engaging theoretical perspectives on the dynamic nature of consumption, highlighting peculiarities in thedomains of food, mobility and energy. Building on a wealth of empirical insights Hansen convincingly argues that consumption practices can only be fully understood in the context of political-economic conditions. The book is a must read for those interested in consumption theory, political economy and/or Vietnam."

--Sigrid Wertheim-Heck, Associate professor global food system sustainability, Environmental Policy Group, Wageningen University, The Netherlands

“Arve Hansen’s new monograph makes an important contribution to Vietnamese studies. Through analysing different dimensions of consumption, the book examines the dramatic changes of everyday life after the economic reforms in Vietnam. Through the lens of consumption and development, the book greatly enlarges our understanding of contemporary Vietnam.”

--Nguyen Tuan Anh, Associate Professor, Faculty of Sociology, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi

 “Timely analysis of the drastically changing consumption patterns in Vietnam today with due attention to their cultural continuity”

--Minh Nguyen, Professor of Social Anthropology, Bielefeld University, Germany

​Arve Hansen is a researcher at Centre for Development and the Environment, University of Oslo, Norway, where he leads the centre’s research on consumption and energy and the Norwegian Network for Asian Studies. His research focuses on consumption and sustainability and the political economy of everyday practices, with a particular interest in Vietnam where he has worked for more than a decade.