ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the multi-scalar connections between Vietnamese homes, cities and worlds beyond. It deals with participants’ descriptions and memories of their homes in Vietnam, noting the multiple ways in which different forms of work are interwoven with ideas of home. The chapter explores the ways in which ideas and practices of home and work are reconfigured in the context of migration. It explains the ways in which connections between homes and cities in London and Vietnam are made and re-made. The chapter focuses on the space and practices within the Vietnamese home and addresses the ways in which they are transmitted and transformed in the context of migration. Participants’ descriptions generally emphasise the centrality of family in Vietnamese cultural identity. S. Bayly’s argument highlights the ways in which Vietnamese ideals of achievement bring together the realms of the home, the economy, education and the nation, and the pressures that the goals exert upon women in particular.
