On the morning of November 20th, 2020, the 6th session of “Area Studies Across the Boundaries: Southeast Asian Studies” hosted by Institute of International and Area Studies, Tsinghua University (IIAS-THU) was held as scheduled. Dr. Jayde Lin Roberts, Senior Lecturer of Faculty of Built Environment at The University of New South Wales, introduced her findings under the title of “Nalehmu Urbanism: The Informal, Intimate and Relational Economies of Yangon Street Vending” online. About 80 participants, including faculty and students from IIAS, shared her insights.

Dr. Lin Roberts started from the word “Nalehmu” in Burmese to clarify the research orientation of understanding the concept as a set of relational practices and to explore how urban life continues in the context of drastic changes. She discriminated the similarities and differences between the concept of “relationship” in the Chinese context and that of “Nalehmu” in Burmese, emphasizing that “Nalehmu” can be embodied differently in different dimensions. In the context of street economy, her research borrows the framework of “intimate economy” used by Ara Wilson, which challenges the dichotomy of the original theory. By visiting street vendors in Yangon and tracking the attempt of Yangon authorities to set up centralized marketplaces, Dr. Lin Roberts stressed that “Nalehmu” is a system composed of a wide range of negotiation practices, from the negotiation between husband and wife, up to that between the people and the country. This system is so all-encompassing that every interaction may represent negotiation. However, the present negotiations often affect future interactions. It provides the space of livelihood to numerous people. Therefore, although corruption may breed, it should not be squeezed out or eliminated in a rush.

In the following Q&A session, the audience and Dr. Lin Roberts discussed the effects of ethnics, different market environments and international assistance in “Nalehmu” as well as the decision-making process of centralized marketplaces.

Holding PhD in Built Environment from the University of Washington, Dr. Jayde Lin Roberts serves as Senior Lecturer in Architecture at Faculty of Built Environment at The University of New South Wales. Her research interest covers daily urbanism, overseas Chinese and other topics, including urban space and heritage construction in Myanmar. She is the author of Mapping Chinese Rangoon: Place and Nation among the Sino-Burmese.

Text by: Wang Lingqi
Edited by: Qin Yi