Privatization and Gendered Market Dynamics in Ninh Hiep, Gia Lam

Abstract

Ninh Hiep is one of the most recent examples of traditional and modern market places existing side by side, merging into each other. Instead of lending the land to a big foreign supermarket chain, it was decided to sell land use rights to private investors who in turn built two new markets in the year 2011 just opposite the old market to promote textile and clothes trade in Ninh Hiep. Even though Ninh Hiep market is considered a “chợ quê”, “chợ làng” or “chợ nông thôn” (countryside or village market), it is in striking distance to Hanoi city and therefore not unaffected by urbanization and modernization processes taking place at rapid pace. And yet the changes in Ninh Hiep are specific in many ways and need further examination. The aim of this article is to describe the marketization process and its specific attributes in Ninh Hiep.