Changes in social structure and community life in Tuong Binh Hiep craft village under the impact of urbanization

Bui V'et Khoang ORCID: 0000-0002-3990-4467 PhD in Sociology Lecturer at Thu Dau Mot University Postgraduate student; Department of Russian Statehood, Sociological and Political Sciences; Volgograd State University 400062, Russia, Volgograd region, Volgograd, Universitetskiy str., 100 vietbh@tdmu.edu.vn Other publications by this author

Introduction

Traditional craft villages are an important part of Vietnam's socio-economic system, not only contributing to job creation and life stabilization, but also preserving centuries-old cultural values. However, under the influence of urbanization, many craft villages are facing serious changes in the structure of labor, organization of production, as well as in social life. Tuong Binh Hyep Lacquer Village (Binh Zyong Province) is a typical example of this transformation.

The topic "Changes in the social structure and social life in Tuong Binh Hyep handicraft village under the influence of urbanization" is related to issues of socio-economic transformation, social relations and changes in family models in the traditional handicraft village. Although many studies have been conducted on the impact of urbanization on artisanal villages, there are still some important research gaps, namely:

Lack of in-depth research on changes in family and social relations in artisan villages. Most previous research has focused on economic changes in craft villages, especially the impact of markets and industrialization on production. However, there are not many studies on the impact of urbanization on family structure, the roles of its members, and the level of household cohesion in artisan villages.

There was practically no quantitative analysis of the degree of decrease in social cohesion. Many studies qualitatively describe the decline in social cohesion, but only a few measure the degree of change using specific indicators (such as the frequency of communication between households, the level of participation in collective activities, changes in mutual support relationships, etc.). Quantitative studies can help clarify the scale and extent of these changes.

The role of cultural factors in maintaining social cohesion is not fully appreciated. Urbanization affects not only the economy, but also the culture and lifestyle of the inhabitants of artisan villages. However, few studies have focused on how traditional cultural values such as village customs, beliefs, and kinship relationships have adapted or declined in the context of urbanization.

Lack of comparative studies with other craft villages. Most studies of the Tuong Binh Hyep artisan village mainly look at individual cases, without comparing them with other artisan villages in Vietnam with a similar level of urbanization. This comparison can help clarify the specific elements of the Tuong Binh Hyep craft village and find effective adaptation models.

In the context of increasingly intensive urbanization, the social structure of the Tuong Binh Hyep artisan village has undergone many significant changes. In the past, manufacturing households in craft villages were closely connected, and family and community relations played an important role in maintaining production and passing on craft. However, the decline of craft villages due to competition with large-scale industrial production, as well as the trend towards the outflow of labor from the craft sector, directly affected the family structure, division of labor and the level of social ties in the communities of craft villages.

In addition, changes in the life of society are clearly demonstrated through the level of communication between households, neighborhood relations, as well as the participation of residents in common village activities. Whereas in the past, events to strengthen ties in society, such as village meetings, exchange of industrial experience and support each other in business, were held regularly, now such events tend to decrease. The modern urban environment with an individual lifestyle is gradually replacing traditional community models.

Given these realities, the article will provide an in-depth analysis of the changes in the social structure and community life in the Tuong Binh Hiep craft village, explain the causes of the impact, and at the same time provide some recommendations for preserving community values in the context of urbanization. Studying these changes not only helps to better understand the impact of urbanization on craft villages, but also helps to find suitable solutions to maintain social cohesion in traditional craft villages.

Methodology and methods

The author's survey on "Assessing the impact of urbanization on the residents of Tuong Binh Hyep Lacquer artisan village" was conducted in January 2025. The study used a continuous survey method with a sample size (N=297) people. According to the People's Committee of Tuong Binh Hyep commune, by 2025 there will be only 36 units (including enterprises, companies and households) engaged in manual varnish production in the commune, with a total of 297 employees. Therefore, the author conducted a survey of all 36 of these enterprises in order to assess the impact of urbanization on the production of lacquers.

In addition, the author's sociological research was conducted using the method of a focus group discussion on the topic "Assessment of the impact of urbanization on the development of varnish production enterprises in the Tuong Binh Hyep artisanal village." The discussion took place in February 2025 at the representative office of the Tuong Binh Hiep Village Varnish production cooperative with the participation of representatives of 14/36 existing varnish production enterprises. The members of the commission are selected based on criteria such as work experience, professional competence and the ability to make decisions during business operations. The study conducted a comprehensive analysis of the actual impact of urbanization on the development of paint and varnish production enterprises, and identified adjustments to production activities to adapt to the conditions of urbanization.

Research results and discussion

Regarding the division of labor in households, the results of a study in Tuong Binh Hyep handicraft village show that the main labor force in households engaged in handicraft production is the head of household. Most of the current household owners in the craft village are highly skilled workers who have achieved a high level of proficiency in the profession through experience and continuity, meeting the strict requirements of the profession and the market. At the same time, not only men are involved in production and are professional heads of households, but also women, who are both highly qualified specialists and professional heads of households. According to the collected data, the share of households where the head of the family is a woman is 12.79%, the share of households where the head of the family is a man is 87.21%. The reason why the proportion of men who are heads of households with a profession is higher than the proportion of women is due to the peculiarities of the Tuong Binh Gyep handicraft village, a traditional social structure of the Vietnamese people, where the role of male heads of household is still widespread. Men are often family representatives, participating in family and community work. In other words, the general system of professional values and the system of values based on the division of labor still assign men the position of head of a professional family. This is clearly reflected in the division of labor in families with professions as follows: in most families with professions, grandparents have reached working age, so they are not directly involved in production, but only retain their jobs. Usually, the son (husband) directly produces, manages, directs workers, and performs the most difficult stages that require a high level of professionalism and productivity. The daughter-in-law (spouse) participates in sales management, communicating with customers, negotiating prices, participates in some stages of the production process suitable for women, and also combines housework, taking care of parents and children. These roles remain almost unchanged in the lacquer-producing households in the Tuong Binh Hiep handicraft village (98.99%). Thus, although many economic factors have changed, the roles of family members as a whole have remained the same. This clearly demonstrates the tradition passed down from generation to generation in Vietnamese families.

For craft villages, concentration has created many jobs for workers with stable incomes, but through observation and evidence collection, the author found that in the current situation, the activities of Tuong Binh Hyep craft village are increasingly declining, and manufacturing households are no longer able to generate income due to lack of competitiveness with larger production. This is consistent with the results of the survey, in which 70.37% of respondents stated that they faced great difficulties when the households in which specialists work were no longer closely located. The consequence of this problem is the lack of jobs for workers, so they are forced to look for other jobs to earn a living. In manufacturing enterprises, due to a lack of human resources, artisans and family members have to take over all the work, which creates duplication and disrupts the effective structure of promoting personal interests in the workplace. In addition, artisans have few opportunities to exchange information and interact with each other. A significant reduction in the number of workers has also worsened production.

In the context of urbanization, the social role of the residents of the Tuong Binh Hyep artisan village is expressed through a system of behavioral norms, duties and rights related to the status of residents of the artisan village. In particular, in a household, one person performs the functions of both the head of the family and the owner of the family manufacturing enterprise. These people should set the direction, determine the type of family business and how it should be run, lead and manage employees, inspect products, and sometimes do the work themselves. In the craft village of Tuong Binh Hyep, as mentioned above, the head of the family is usually a man, the husband plays a leading role, and is also the owner of a home manufacturing business, playing a crucial role in product design. Women often take on roles such as customer interaction, pricing, income and expense management, and are involved in agricultural work, housework, and child care. The role of grandparents in the family can be spiritual support, sharing secrets and practical experience in the profession, as well as a crucial role in important family events such as filial piety ceremonies, New Year's holidays and longevity celebrations (see Table 1).

Table 1

Statistics on the social roles of family members in craft villages

Examining the social situation in the Tuong Binh Hiep handicraft village, the role of family members in the handicraft village, the following results were obtained: grandparents play a crucial role in the work of the village, the clan accounts for 30.5%. Parental roles are distributed between production and business - 93.0%; professional orientation of children - 90.1%; purchase of expensive things - 89.5%. The child's condition plays an important role in learning. Thus, the position of parents plays a crucial role in most professions, but in the education of children, grandparents and parents give priority to the right to make decisions and at the same time allow children to be active in their studies. As for the change in the social roles of family members, 81.1% of respondents said that they had more roles than before, and only 18.9% said that nothing had changed. The reason for these changes is that in modern urban societies, relationships and work have become more diverse, forcing each person to take on multiple roles at the same time.

In the community of a craft village, the social role of craft enterprises is manifested in the role of directors of companies and enterprises in organizing production, fulfilling tax obligations to the state, searching for sales markets, as well as in a crucial role in managing all the activities of the company and enterprise in order to make a profit. Business leaders need to facilitate the process of workforce restructuring, create jobs for workers and households in craft villages, and promote the development of craft villages. Meanwhile, the social role of the craftsman is to create beautiful and high-quality products. They work for hire to earn money to support themselves and their families, and also make an important contribution to the existence and development of the craft village. The social role of artisans and skilled workers is to create products themselves, and they play a very important social role in the social structure of the craft village community. Artisans should preserve, transfer experience and develop artisan villages.

To assess the level of family cohesion expressed through the number of generations engaged in traditional activities in professional families, the author revealed that the social structure mainly consisted of two-generational families. This means that professions are reproduced, inherited, and developed from one parent generation to the next. In fact, in the craft village of Tuong Binh Hyep, most of the current business owners have been familiar with this profession since their school days. All their family members do this job, so after graduation they gradually master it, first doing light support work. Thus, to this day, most varnishing masters possess the skill, since the profession is inherited from their parents. This process represents a restructuring of this professional community compared to the previous generation: they inherit experience, production methods and professional rules, while at the same time adding new methods to help production and business improve results. In families where two or more generations are pursuing careers, the next generation is very proud that their father/grandfather left them a career that provides the basic income of the family. As for family ties, they are strengthened by universal support in difficult times. Therefore, villagers mainly rely on relatives - 63.3%, on people from prestigious families - 24.6%; in public organizations and in rural areas - 12.1%. Thus, in the craft village community, family relations and the role of the clan are still respected and encouraged by the locals. In general, traditional crafts are still passed down from generation to generation in craft villages, although the market economy has affected the size of families and households, making them smaller and less influential. However, in professional households, there is still a intergenerational connection that involves the transfer of work experience from the previous generation to the next.

Another positive fact of this change is that relations between family members and kinship lines have also become more open. The ideology of imposing dogmas is gradually disappearing and being replaced by the principle of sharing, respect, equality, and democracy between family members. The time that family members spend together, care and attention become much more important. Husband and wife are essentially partners in life, united for the sake of creating a family home. There is no longer any idea that a wife should serve her husband in the family. 77.7% of the surveyed husbands believe that a husband should participate with his wife in the care of children and their upbringing. This creates a strong bond between family members and clans. Gender equality is one of the key factors contributing to improving the quality of life of individuals, families, and society as a whole. This is the fundamental basis of the human development strategy. The family is the unit of society, therefore, achieving gender equality and encouraging women's participation in family work will eliminate gender discrimination by creating equal opportunities for men and women in the development process. Socio-economic development has ensured the development of human resources towards genuine gender equality, the establishment of cooperative and supportive relationships between men and women in all spheres of public and family life. Gender equality has made significant progress, especially since the Law on Gender Equality came into force. There is no legal distinction between men and women, but women's opportunities to achieve gender equality remain limited. No one can deny the role of women in the family, from motherhood to household management, helping the family to develop and be happy. However, in order to ensure gender equality, women not only have to do household chores, but also actively participate in public life. Raising awareness of gender equality in modern society helps women to make progress and take control of their lives. Thanks to the progress of society, women today are no longer trapped in a corner of the house or in the garden. They have equal opportunities with men to study and develop, as well as the opportunity to fully realize their potential. In fact, in the Tuong Binh Hiep craft village, women can participate in any field of activity, and in some areas, women even excel better than men. This is one of the important changes in people's thinking. This helps them build a prosperous, equal and progressive family.

The process of urbanization, concentration and accumulation of the urban population do not mean the cohesion of society. On the contrary, urban life also weakens the communal community in Tuong Binh Hyep district, as people live more fragmented lives. The survey results on the level of communication between residents and neighbors are as follows: 8.8% of residents said that this level has increased more than before urbanization, however, 59.9% of respondents said that this level has become higher than before urbanization. Regarding the level of communication between residents and neighbors, more than half of the respondents chose the option "sometimes" (53.2%), "often" (31%), and no communication (15.8%). The reasons for communication between people are: a casual walk on the street – 56.6%, cases of activity or participation in social events – 33%, while meetings at home become less significant – 10.4%. These results show that communication, relationships, solidarity, love and affection have existed in the daily lives of people here since ancient times, but changes are taking place in the modern urban context, and traditions are being questioned and at risk of disappearing.

Rapid urbanization, economic development, and rising incomes and living standards create conditions that allow people to enjoy a prosperous material life and a rich spiritual life. The way people spend their free time has changed dramatically: they have more time for entertainment, and it has become more diverse and intense.

Table 2:

Changing leisure and property ownership habits in Tuong Binh Hiep Craft Village (over the past 10 years)

Changing leisure habits

Changing ownership of property in families

Ten years ago, people paid the most attention to visiting neighbors, relatives and friends (62.5%), listening to the radio (45.7%), watching TV (35.2%), going to church (21.7%) and playing sports (16.4%). Currently, the most popular form of entertainment for residents of Tuong Binh Hyep artisanal village is watching TV and videos (97.3%); doing physical education and sports (34.8%); followed by visits to village temples, pagodas (31.5%) and amusement parks (16.8%). Meanwhile, listening to the radio is no longer attractive to people (a decrease from 45.7% to 2.5%). On the contrary, some activities increased significantly, such as reading books and newspapers increased from 3.6% to 15.4%; Amusement parks increased from 3.2% to 16.8%; Going to the cinema, singing, karaoke increased from 2.5% to 10.7%; and tourism increased from 0.8% to 8.5%. As for the acquisition and ownership of valuable assets in the family, many types of furniture that serve people's living needs have increased rapidly over a period of more than 10 years: for example, the purchase of motorcycles increased from 73.3% to 100%, washing machines — from 62.8% to 96.6%, refrigerators — from 76.3% to 98.8%, air conditioners — from 56.4% to 86.9%, mobile phones — from 84.4% to 100%. This trend also indicates a clear change in people's quality of life. Nowadays, the villagers have become closer to the life of modern urban society. Recreational activities that help people regain their strength after hard work are becoming more diverse in form and quantity.

In order to better understand the changes in the social structure and community life in the Tuong Binh Hyep craft village, the study conducted group interviews, which yielded the following results:

The majority of respondents agreed that the division of labor in the family has changed significantly compared to the past. Mr. Nguyen Van Binh (52 years old, owner of a lacquer factory) shared, "In the past, when children grew up, they followed their parents to learn the craft. Now the children no longer want to follow this profession. I have two children, the eldest works in an industrial park, the youngest studies at the university, no one wants to continue the family business." This point of view is supported by the opinion of Ms. Le Thi Hoa (48 years old, varnisher), who sees that the role of women in the family has also changed: "Previously, women did only light work and mainly took care of the family. Now I have to work and sell online to find customers and earn additional income."

These interviews show that although men still play a dominant role in manufacturing, women are playing an increasingly important role in business activities and product marketing. However, the gender division of labor remains quite clear: men take on more complex technical steps.

Many elders of the craft village say that the level of community cohesion has decreased significantly in recent years. Mr. Tran Van Lam (65 years old, retired artisan) expressed his regret: "In the past, artisans often gathered together, shared secrets and helped each other when needed. Now everyone is busy with their work, and we rarely see village gatherings or gatherings together like before." Similarly, Ms. Nguyen Thi Lan (62 years old, used to work in the field of varnishing) also commented: "The neighbors used to come every night to talk. Now everyone is busy, sometimes they don't see each other for a whole month." Some young people have a different point of view. Mr. Pham Van Hai (34 years old, small producer) believes that these changes are inevitable: "Business is hard these days, everyone has to worry about how to make a living. It's not that the craft villages are no longer connected, it's just that the method of communication is different. Now we mostly write, call or exchange via Facebook, Zalo and rarely meet in person."

Thus, although traditional ties tend to decline, residents of artisan villages still keep in touch through modern means of communication. This indicates a change in the way communication is achieved, rather than a complete loss of it. One of the problems that was often mentioned in interviews was the difficulty of maintaining artisan villages. Ms. Tran Ti Minh (45 years old, owner of a manufacturing company) said: "There is too much competition, the production of varnished products is no longer as profitable as before. Raw material prices are rising, orders are low, and industrial products are much cheaper." In addition, many production facilities are having difficulty finding new employees. Mr. Nguyen Van Hai (38 years old, workshop owner) said, "There are not many young workers left. They go to work for the company because the salary there is higher and more stable. If there is no solution, it will be difficult to maintain this craft village in 10 years." This result is consistent with the survey data, in which more than 70% of respondents said they were experiencing difficulties maintaining production activities due to labor shortages and declining orders.

Based on the results of the focus group interviews, several key conclusions can be drawn.:

Changing family roles: The interview results show a change in the structure of family work, as the younger generation no longer wants to inherit traditional professions. The role of women in craft villages has also changed: now they not only participate in production, but also play an important role in business and marketing.

Reducing social cohesion: As previous studies have shown, urbanization is changing the ways residents of artisanal villages interact. However, this connection does not disappear completely, but goes into online and informal forms.

Survival problems of craft villages: difficulties in the market, labor and production costs threaten the survival of craft villages. Without an appropriate support policy, it is likely that artisan villages will continue to shrink in size or will be gradually replaced by industrial production models.

Conclusions

The development of urbanization has led to profound changes in the Tuong Binh Hyep lacquer artisan village, not only economically, but also had a strong impact on the social structure and life of society. The research results show that family and social relations in artisan villages are undergoing significant changes: from the traditional division of labor to the level of cohesion between households and villagers.

In the past, the family played a central role in the production and transmission of handicrafts, and many generations participated in this process. However, urbanization has reduced this legacy, as the younger generation tends to seek work outside of craft villages, leading to fewer skilled workers and changes in family structure. At the same time, social activities that were once the backbone of village life have also suffered as residents have increasingly adopted an individualized lifestyle, reducing interaction with neighbors and the community.

However, cultural and traditional values still play an important role in maintaining social cohesion in artisan villages. There are still some connections between households through production, trade activities, as well as cultural and religious events. However, appropriate support measures are needed to maintain and develop this relationship in the new environment.

In general, this study helps clarify the process of transformation of the social structure and life of society in the context of urbanization, while emphasizing the need for adaptive measures to preserve the identity of artisan villages. In the future, the combination of economic development with the preservation of traditional values will be a key factor for the further sustainable development of Tuong Binh Hyep artisanal village in an increasingly urbanized environment.