Paper short abstract:

This paper traces the rise of the entrepreneurial self in Vietnam by analyzing the practices of private life insurance sellers, who turn the self and social relations into business opportunities while presenting themselves as moral agents in service of collective wellbeing and the nation's future.

Paper long abstract:

Casting the self as the primary unit of profit making and value creation, the entrepreneurial self evolves from neoliberal ideas of self-entrepreneurship and self-responsibility to find ramifications in varying contexts. This article characterizes the entrepreneurial self of market socialism through the case of life insurance sale agents in Vietnam, where socialist genealogies remain salient alongside deepening marketization. To turn social relationships into business opportunities, the sales agents do not just present themselves as attentive to others’ wellbeing and the future of the nation; they are real believers in life insurance as a modern form of care. This morally activated market actor is born of the new economy, where the mandate to be self-entrepreneurial and self-responsible sits alongside with that to be a collectively spirited person. Remoralized through care, mutuality and national belonging, the entrepreneurial self of market socialism still betrays the illusory power of the individual and the clash between coexisting value frameworks.