This study is a social history of the poor in colonial Saigon. Under French colonial rule, Saigon became increasingly linked to its rural hinterland and to a flourishing regional rice economy. The city prospered as it became the entry point to a regional market for Vietnamese rice. Its affluence depended on the regional demand for rice, especially from Hong Kong and southern China. This wealth created new employment opportunities in Saigon's commercial economy, which drew hopeful migrants from the countryside to the city. However, there were always many more migrants than jobs. Those who did not find work in the commercial economy joined a floating population of urban poor, who engaged in an economy of makeshift to get by.

This study traces the itineraries of five poor individuals from among this floating population, during the first four decades of the twentieth century--an orphan, a prostitute, a rickshaw puller, a poor Frenchman, and an invalid. It shows how they creatively adapted to new legal and institutional constraints in colonial Saigon. The authorities imposed new taxes, legislated new crimes, and had new expectations of Vietnamese behaviour. They also established new municipal institutions, such as orphanages, dispensaries, police posts, hospitals, and prisons. This study traces how such institutions shaped the lives of the urban poor. (source: ProQuest)