This study examines the subjective experiences of expatriates in Vietnam,
considering their relative social positions and dispositions as they adapt to local structural
and cultural conditions. It explores how markers of differentiation related to nationality,
race/ethnicity, gender, class, sexual orientation, marital/relationship status and parenting
influence the subjective negotiation of positionality, the constitution of habitus and
adaptive practices. It is driven by three questions: i) how do factors of distinction affect
the experience of expatriates? ii) how are relative social positions, dispositions and
practice involved in the adaptation process? And iii) can long-term expatriation or
successive expatriations prompt forms of adaptation that have a significant impact on the
configuration of personal and social dispositions? Key concepts are drawn from the work
of Pierre Bourdieu, although I propose complementary notions in order to heed
expatriates’ subjective experiences and account for a potentially transformative habitus.
Leaning more heavily on a phenomenological approach, the analysis focuses on the role
of relative social positions and dispositions (dimensions of habitus) in the adaptation
process. Structural and cultural conditions, along with deeply internalized ways of
thinking/acting/being born of socialization, are taken into account, although emphasis is
placed on the substance of narratives: the articulation of located perceptions, desires and
needs, the apprehension of cross-cultural challenges, and the ramifications of adaptive
and reflexive practices. This project draws on the results of 26 months of field
observations, a survey administered to 300 respondents, 39 semi structured interviews
and three thematic focus group sessions. The pairing of descriptive statistics and
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frequency analysis on one hand, and qualitative analysis on the other, is an unusual
approach that generates complementary inferences. This study confirms that social
positions and dispositions affect the subjective experiences of expatriates; that some
adaptation strategies are deployed to accommodate, rather than challenge, dimensions of
habitus, while other attitudinal adjustments mark an evolution in social actors’
dispositions. In some cases at least, it seems that relatively conscious reflexive and
adaptive practices lead to the development of cross-cultural awareness and intersubjective
engagements with profound effects on respondents’ practices and identities.