Using qualitative data collected from interviews and focus group discussions with rural-to-urban women migrants in Ha Noi, Vietnam, and this thesis explores the connections between internal migration, social networks and gender roles. Specifically, I will examine how these three elements are interconnected in a complex web of cause and effect, leading rural women to migrate to the capital city and engage in domestic work. Their stories will also be placed in the broader context of Vietnam, a post-socialist country undergoing rapid socio-economic transformations, so that a link between individual agency and structural elements can be drawn. Some questions that will be addressed are: To what extent is migration a personal choice or an outcome of desperate situations? Does migration empower women? And how do migrants and their families deal with the changes brought about by migration in terms of gender relations and care arrangements?
URL : http://ir.lib.uwo.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4954&context=etd