The Cultural Remittance and Hybridization of Confucian Practices: Placemaking of Vietnamese Migrants Working in Thailand

Abstract

The impact of remittances on development extends beyond economic growth for families and communities. This paper explores the cultural practices of Vietnamese migrants working in Thailand through a multi-sited ethnographic research methodology done in two countries – Thailand and Vietnam, including accompanying Vietnamese workers to Thailand. Specifically, it focuses on the influence of Confucian practices of cultural remittance and hybridization on placemaking within the migrant community in Vietnam. The study highlights the profound impact of remittances on development and the positive transformations they bring to the migrants' place of origin. It examines how Confucian practices shape the identities of the places of origin and Vietnamese migrants employed in Thailand. The authors argue that migrants involved in the informal economy have the annual opportunity to return home and contribute to the economy and culture of their homeland. For three decades, this process of transculturality has occurred as cultural remittances gradually hybridized with the local culture, enabling individuals to construct new identities and actively participate in placemaking. Consequently, the meaning of place of origin changes significantly from a negative place to a prominent, modern, and civilized community. This shift broadens the definition of what it means to be ‘good people,’ firmly rooted in the ideals of Confucianism.