The Change of Residential Space of Ede People in Buon Ma Thuot City after 1975

Abstract

Over the last half century, there have been many changes taking place in the residential space of ethnic groups in Vietnam, especially those living in the Vietnamese Central Highlands, where the Vietnamese state has implemented a variety of important socio-economic development policies. Studying the residential space of the Vietnamese Central Highlanders, many authors have described the changes in housing architecture or their way of living, paying little attention to the relationship between changes in architecture and changes in indigenous people’s lifestyles, nor do they place these changes in a broader socio-political-economic context. Applying a holistic approach, based on field research conducted by the author during 2016-2017, this article seeks to analyse the complexity of change processes of the residential space of the Ede people in Buon Ma Thuot after 1975. The paper’s key argument is that the crucial changes in residential space, on the one hand, have resulted in acculturation between Ede and Kinh ethnic groups – in which the former accepted many cultural practices of the latter; on the other hand, have motivated them to preserve their traditional culture. Received 10th March 2020; Revised 18th April 2020; Accepted 24th April 2020