Nhân Văn—Giai Phẩm and Vietnamese “Reform Communism” in the 1950s: A Revisionist Interpretation

Abstract

This article reexamines Nhân Văn–Giai Phẩm (NVGP), a political protest movement led by intellectuals that coalesced in the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in 1956. The article reassesses the development of the movement and the internal composition of its leadership. Through a close reading of the major publications produced by NVGP, the article takes issue with the conventional view, which characterizes the movement as a robust grouping of political dissidents against the party-state. The article shows that NVGP should in fact be seen as a relatively timid strain of the “revisionist” or “reform Communist” movements that emerged throughout the Communist world in the wake of Iosif Stalin's death.

To tighten or relax social bonds?: Vietnamese criticism and self-criticism, and liberal self-exploration

“…Tuong was certainly not alone. In 1956, hundreds of other Vietnamese writers criticized Vietnamese communist leaders for stifling freedom of thought, creativity, and speech (Zinoman, 2011, 73). It would not be until decades later that the liberal relaxing of social bonds that Tuong advocated would be taken up.…”

Constitutional Mobilization

“…Under communist rule, Vietnam experienced five constitutions promulgated in 1946,1959,1980,1992 freedom of speech, which they ultimately successfully enshrined in the 1946 Constitution. 112 After the national unification in 1975, protestors continued to demonstrate against their government's misuse of public power and advocated for the protection of citizens' rights. 113 Most striking is the recent explosion of constitutional mobilization during the process of making the 2013 Constitution.…”