Making Clothing Retail Place-Specific, While Changing The Spatialities Of Production: The Role Of ‘Planned Authenticity’ And Globalization In Hoi An, Vietnam

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    Abstract

    This paper takes its starting point in literature on retail geographies to discuss
    a relatively unexplored relationship between globalization and the significance
    of place for retail in global tourist destinations. Based on fieldwork conducted
    in Hoi An, Vietnam, it shows how local clothing retailers, the so-­called tailor
    shops, that sell their products to foreign tourists become part of a ‘planned
    authenticity’ that characterize the city. While clothing products in Hoi An retain
    an image of being produced by local and traditional tailors, the production is
    becoming increasingly industrialised and transcends multiple territories. The
    paper identifies three segments of tailor shops, distinguished by their various
    relations to ‘the global’. It argues that their unequal opportunities are highly
    embedded in Vietnam’s transitional political economy, and also connected to
    the ways that authenticity is intentionally created and linked to the global in
    the city of Hoi An.
    Original languageEnglish
    Publication date2015
    Number of pages1
    Publication statusPublished - 2015
    EventFourth Global Conference on Economic Geography 2015: Mapping Economies in Transformation - University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
    Duration: 19 Aug 201523 Aug 2015
    Conference number: 4
    http://www.gceg2015.org/

    Conference

    ConferenceFourth Global Conference on Economic Geography 2015
    Number4
    LocationUniversity of Oxford
    Country/TerritoryUnited Kingdom
    CityOxford
    Period19/08/201523/08/2015
    Internet address

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