Tous les articles par indomemoires

Lê Thanh Nghị, “Report on meetings with Party leaders of eight socialist countries” [1965]

[ndlr] Signalement d’une archive en ligne sur le site du Wilson Center.

North Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Politburo member Le Thanh Nghi recounts his discussions with socialist leaders in the summer of 1965, just as the war in the south was heating up.

“Report on Meetings with Party Leaders of Eight Socialist Countries”

During these talks, in each country we focused on providing to the Party and State leaders internal information on the Vietnamese people’s struggle against the American imperialist aggressors and on our Party Central Committee’s assessments and policies. We provided clear explanations of the plots of the American imperialists, described the victories our struggle has won, and explained our strategic resolve to defeat the American imperialists, to defend the North, liberate the South, and to advance toward the peaceful unification of our country. We described our determined resolve to overcome all difficulties and hardships in order to achieve total victory, and we clearly spelled out the certainty of our victory. We also told the Soviet Union and the Eastern European countries that if Vietnam did not resolutely defeat the American imperialist will to commit aggression, the American imperialists would become aggressive and would try to put their foot on our collective heads. They would escalate their acts of aggression and instigate wars against a number of the other fraternal countries, including even the Eastern European countries. We made careful presentations so that the fraternal countries would understand that we were not using only military measures in our struggle and that we were not rigid and machine-like; instead we made it clear that we have a clear and profound understanding of our nation’s most sacred revolutionary mission, which is also a heavy and glorious international duty for us.

In general, in all eight socialist countries that we visited (China, the Soviet Union, Poland, Germany, Bulgaria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and North Korea), the Party and State leaders whom we met all indicated that they agreed with our assessments and our analyses; they agreed with the policies and positions of our Party Central Committee; and they said that they would actively support and help us.

[Handwritten: Brother Tuan will type up an official copy, which should be about 20 pages long]

[Handwritten: 24 copies]

Pour citer ce document :

“Lê Thanh Nghị, ‘Report on Meetings with Party Leaders of Eight Socialist Countries’,” 1965, History and Public Policy Program Digital Archive, 8058 – “Báo cáo của Phó Thủ tướng Lê Thanh Nghị về việc gặp các đồng chí lãnh đạo của Đảng và Nhà nước 8 nước xã hội chủ nghĩa năm 1965,” Phủ Thủ tướng, Vietnam National Archives Center 3 (Hanoi). Obtained by Pierre Asselin and translated by Merle Pribbenow.

https://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/document/134601

Source : Wilson Center Digital Archive

Christopher Goscha : Peace matters [book review]

[ndlr] Signalement de la recension de l’ouvrage de Sophie Quinn-Judge (The Third Force in the Vietnam War: The Elusive Search for Peace, 1954-75) par Christopher E. Goscha. En accès libre pendant quelques jours sur Mekong Review. Lecture vivement conseillée.

Sophie Quinn-Judge landed in central Vietnam in 1973 as a member of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). She served in the AFSC-run Rehabilitation Centre in Quang Ngai province until the end of the war in 1975, providing prosthetics and relief help to war-injured civilians coming from all sides of the conflict ripping Vietnam apart. Quinn-Judge grew up in Quaker country in the suburbs of Philadelphia. Although she was not initially a member of this breakaway Protestant faith, she took part in their youth camps as a youngster and felt at home working in the AFSC in France and Vietnam.

The Quakers established the AFSC upon the United States’ entry into the First World War in 1917. The Quakers refused to take part in war as an article of faith. So instead of sending their sons into the trenches of the Western Front, the AFSC mobilised their young people to help civilians hurt and displaced by the conflagration. The AFSC did more than provide humanitarian aid, however. Drawing on centuries of Quaker pacifism, the organisation actively promoted “lasting peace with justice, as a practical expression of faith in action”. Educational programs, youth camps and exchanges helped nurture “the seeds of change and respect for human life that transform social relations and systems”. In 1947, the AFSC received the Nobel Prize for Peace for its humanitarian relief efforts during and after the Second World War and its promotion of world peace. The Quakers continued their work during the Cold War, dispatching people to work in war-torn areas of the Afro-Asian world, including Vietnam.[1]

Quinn-Judge carried these values with her to Quang Ngai, working tirelessly in the rehabilitation centre. Arriving shortly after the signing of the Paris Peace Accords, she also became an advocate of peace. The Paris Agreement, signed by the Vietnamese and US sides in January 1973, called for the creation of a coalition government in South Vietnam that would eventually replace the embattled Republic of Vietnam. The coalition would include members from this state, a host of non-communist religious, neutralist and democratic leaders, as well as the communist-backed National Liberation Front (NLF) and the People’s Revolutionary Government for the south. This southern coalition would then decide the south’s destiny via negotiations with the north.

Lire la suite : Mekong Review

Image “à la une” : With journalists from Van nghe quan doi, Quinn-Judge, far right. Photograph : Claudia Krich © Mekong Review

 

Vietnam Update: The Politics of Life – Call for Papers

[ndlr] Appel à communications.

CALL FOR PAPERS

2017 Vietnam Update: The Politics of Life

20-21 November 2017

Australian National University, Canberra

Vietnamese people often tell their foreign visitors that Vietnam is the most secure place in the world. The country has no terrorists, no political disorder, and the police are second to none. Decades of devastating warfare are long-past. Poverty is declining and incomes are rising in a region with good economic prospects. People in Vietnam appear to fling themselves at life’s everyday challenges with intensity and no little optimism.

But Vietnamese today are questioning ends and means, particularly as they relate to human security; they thirst for transparency and reliable ways to assert control over life. In the country and the city, in material, ideological and psychological realms, and at local, national and regional scales, the ability to feel secure is slipping away. This leads to high system maintenance costs and exhaustion as people exert themselves to amass the means and the trust they require to obtain existential security. Increasingly, questions are being asked as to whether life might be lived in a better way.

This Vietnam Update is dedicated to exploring the politics of life in Vietnam. The organisers call for original research papers that address the following sets of questions:

  1. For many Vietnamese, the most significant risks to life come from their own region as neighbours stake claims and leverage power asymmetries in ways perceived to be detrimental to the very existence of the country. Doubts about co-ordinating mutual security through ASEAN co-exist with concerns about the merits of rapprochement with America. Preoccupations with China manifest in anxieties about encirclement, infiltration, collusion, manipulation and incitement. How are such anxieties given voice and how does the government respond? Online criticisms and protests by activists are met with repression, but throughout the country – both within the government and beyond  – debate rages about how to secure the nation. One of the deepest questions is: who is to be trusted with the nation’s security?
  2. The recent censure and demotion of high level leaders for misconduct or poor performance attests to the openly competitive nature of political power. Party leaders continue to warn about the threats posed by ideological and moral degradation, but are there indications that leaders are being selected according to new standards of meritocratic governance? It has become conventional to tie political outcomes to factional power struggles or a contest over the spoils of patronage but to what extent does politics represent a contest between alternative visions for how the country should be governed and how life is to be lived?
  3. Capitalist market relations are central to gaining access to basic life needs formerly obtained through government programs, state enterprises and co-operatives, or via family, community or customary economies. Market logics influence the supply of housing, land, food, healthcare and education, and most government services attract formal or informal user fees. The pursuit of market efficiencies is linked to precarious livelihoods, indebtedness, and widening social disparities. How are such processes experienced and debated within Vietnamese society? Are there attempts to push back against or mitigate the commoditisation of life?
  4. Technology, industry, science and new production and exchange systems have unleashed material plenty and improved life for tens of millions of people. However, doubts about the benefits of headlong modernisation appear in concerns about the harm done by chemical effluents, carcinogens, pesticides and unsafe food, along with urban expansion, traffic chaos and unsafe workplaces. Agrarian intensification, agricultural commoditisation and land concentration have increased productivity but also engender livelihood insecurities and pose existential threats to rural communities and customary ways of life. In what ways are citizens suturing gaps and controlling such risks through mutual assistance, security from below, or deliberative modes of living and being?
  5. For a number of Vietnamese, the material, spiritual and psychological strains of modern life are such that a retreat into simpler modes of living, equated with the past, offers an appealing alternative. At the same time, tradition is blamed for ills as diverse as corruption, excessive drinking, age, gender and ethnic hierarchies, and doctrinaire thinking. As youths study abroad and gain exposure to the cultures of the world, many are led to wonder: what values and institutions work? Do Vietnamese need a state religion, a prescribed traditional or ‘Western’ culture, civics lessons, or democracy to have the means to obtain security and hold each-other to account?
  6. One of the most intriguing developments in the politics of life come from networks of activists who use media, community affiliations and ties to government insiders and resources to vocally and persistently oppose official development projects, land confiscations and foreign investments considered harmful to human wellbeing. Recent actions range from social media campaigns to sit-ins, flash demonstrations, and the capture of public officials by frustrated villagers. In this workshop we are interested to explore whether the politics of material security represents a singular domain in which citizens may significantly oppose or influence government decisions and development directions through engaging in overt political action perhaps in ways not seen previously in Vietnam.

The organisers are seeking proposals for papers on these themes to be presented at a conference to be held at the ANU, Canberra on 20-21 November 2017.

Proposal Submission:
Interested contributors should send their proposals and a one page CV to Philip Taylor by 20 June 2017. Email: Philip.taylor@anu.edu.au

Each proposal should be no longer than 600 words. The proposal should outline how the paper relates to the issues highlighted in the above sets of questions and the kind of research the paper will be based on. Preference will be given to papers that promise a rich analysis and have an interdisciplinary dimension. The conference organisers will then decide which proposals to accept. We will then extend invitations to the authors of the selected proposals to prepare and present their papers to the conference. The organisers also reserve the right to solicit papers, if necessary, from individuals who did not submit proposals.

Funding for travel and accommodation is available and details will be discussed later with each paper presenter.

Paper Specifications:
The paper itself should be submitted 30 days before the date of the conference.

The paper should not exceed 10,000 words and it should include appropriate bibliography and citations. Each paper should include an abstract of 250 words.

Presentation and Publication:
We envisage about twelve paper presentations during a two day workshop in Canberra on 20-21 November 2017. At the Update each author will have approximately 40 minutes to summarise what her/his paper argues and the evidence used.

The conference will also include presentations about recent political and economic developments in Vietnam.

Organisers request the right of first refusal with regards to publishing the accepted papers, which may be included, subject to any necessary revisions to meet publication requirements, in a refereed book or journal collection that we hope will be published within a year of the conference.

For more information on this Vietnam Update theme or questions about paper proposals please contact Philip Taylor (philip.taylor@anu.edu.au).

Vietnam Update Committee: Huong Le Thu; Phuc To; Ashley Carruthers; Kim Huynh; David Marr; Tana Li; Benedict Kerkvliet; Sango Mahanty.

Changing Lives in Laos: Society, Politics, and Culture in a Post-Socialist State [parution]

[ndlr] Parution d’une nouvelle publication sur le Laos contemporain sous la direction de Vatthana Pholsena et Vanina Bouté. Présentation de l’éditeur.

Changing Lives in Laos:

Society, Politics, and Culture in a Post-Socialist State

Edited by Vanina Bouté and Vatthana Pholsena

Changes in the character of the political regime in Laos after 2000, a massive influx of foreign investment, and disruptions to rural life arising from improved communications and new forms of mobility within and across the borders have produced a major transformation across the country. Witnessing these changes, a group of scholars carried out studies that document the rise of a new social, cultural and economic order. The contributions to this volume draw on original fieldwork materials and unpublished sources, and provide fresh analyses of topics ranging from the structures of power to the politics of territoriality and new forms of sociability in emerging urban spaces.

“In Changing Lives in Laos, Vanina Bouté and Vatthana Pholsena have assembled an invaluable collection of papers on Laos by key established and emerging scholars of the country. While Laos remains under-studied compared to most of the region, these chapters show an increasingly thorough engagement with people and places and a better understanding of the texture of transition and transformation.”
Jonathan Rigg, Department of Geography, National University of Singapore

“This new book on Laos, edited by two leading specialists on this country, features articles by a new generation of historians, anthropologists, geographers and political scientists. Studying state formation, new economic trends, and issues such as the cultural integration of ethnic minorities and rural migration, this interesting book brilliantly demonstrates how in less than fifty years Lao society has been deeply transformed.”
Yves Goudineau, Director of the French School of Asian Studies (EFEO), Chair in Comparative Anthropology of Southeast Asia (Paris)

________________________________________________________ 

CONTENTS
List of Illustrations
1. Introduction
Vanina Bouté and Vatthana Pholsena

PART I: STATE FORMATION AND POLITICAL LEGITIMATION
2. The History and Evolution of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party
Martin Rathie
3. Shaping the National Topography: The Party-State, National Imageries, and Questions of Political Authority in Lao PDR
Oliver Tappe
4. ‘Special Operation Pagoda’: Buddhism, Covert Operations, and the Politics of Religious Subversion in Cold-War Laos (1957-60)
Patrice Ladwig
5. War Generation: Youth Mobilization and Socialization in Revolutionary Laos
Vatthana Pholsena
6. Socialist Pathways of Education: The Lao in East Germany
Nicole Reichert

PART II: NATURAL RESOURCE GOVERNANCE AND AGRARIAN CHANGE
7. The Poltical Ecology of Upland/Lowland Relationships in Laos since 1975
Olivier Évrard and Ian G. Baird
8. The New ‘New Battlefield’: Capitalizing Security in Laos’ Agribusiness Landscape
Michael B. Dwyer
9. Reaching the Cities: New Forms of Network and Social Differentiation in Northern Laos
Vanina Bouté

PART III: ETHNIC MINORITIES ENGAGING WITH MODERNITY
10. Ethnic Belonging in Laos: A Politico-Historical Perspective
Grégoire Schlemmer
11. Piglets Are Buffaloes: Buddhification and the Reduction of Sacrifices on the Boloven Plateau
Guido Sprenger
12. Rubber’s Affective Economies: Seeding a Social Landscape in Northwest Laos
Chris Lyttleton and Yunxia Li

PART IV: IN SEARCH OF OPPORTUNITIES: MOVING ACROSS AND OUTSIDE THE COUNTRY
13. Migration and Mobility in Laos
Sverre Molland
14. Patterns and Consequences of Undocumented Migration from Lao PDR to Thailand
Kabmanivanh Phouxay
15. Textiles Economy in Laos: From the Household to the World
Annabel Vallard

Bibliography
Contributors
Index

Source : NUS Press

Deux prêtres du diocèse de Vinh sont la cible d’une campagne de diffamation orchestrée par les autorités provinciales

[ndlr] Signalement. Le “bras de fer” continue entre les autorités communistes vietnamiennes et deux paroisses de la communauté catholique de la province de Nghê An entrées en résistance.

Deux prêtres du diocèse de Vinh sont la cible d’une campagne de diffamation orchestrée par les autorités provinciales

Deux prêtres du diocèse de Vinh sont aujourd’hui dans le collimateur des autorités civiles locales. Les deux prêtres, le P. Dang Huu Nam et le P. Nguyên Dinh Thuc, respectivement curés des paroisses de Phu Yên et de Song Ngoc, ont, les mois derniers, pris la tête de la résistance des fidèles catholiques dans leur protestation contre le complexe industriel Formosa, responsable d’une très grave pollution de l’environnement maritime dans la région et contre l’absence ou l’insuffisance d’indemnisation pour certaines des victimes de la catastrophe écologique.

La campagne calomniatrice lancée contre les deux curés de paroisse a été reprise sur tous les médias officiels aussi bien à la télévision, à la radio que sur les journaux contrôlés par le pouvoir. Face à cette attaque sans précédent contre leurs confrères, les membres du clergé local ne sont pas restés sans réaction. Une déclaration signée par de nombreux prêtres a pris leur défense avec vigueur.

Lire la suite : Églises d’Asie, 11/05/2017.

Image “à la une” : Le P. Dang Huu Nam (au centre, mégaphone en main) organise une manifestation pour dénoncer la pollution causée par l’entreprise Formosa © fvpoc.org/RFA.

Déambuler dans la littérature vietnamienne francophone…

[ndlr] Un nouveau carnet de recherche intitulé Littérature Vietnamienne Francophone vient de voir le jour sur Hypotheses.org. Il s’agit du carnet de Nguyen Giang Huong, chargée de collections en Langue et Littérature d’Asie du Sud-Est au département Littérature et art de la BNF et notamment responsable du fonds vietnamien. Elle livre ci-après les principaux objectifs de sa démarche :

  • effectuer un état des lieux des écritures littéraires des auteurs francophones d’origine vietnamienne
  • favoriser la préservation des textes,
  • relayer les études scientifiques
  • établir une veille sur les différentes recherches menées sur ces corpus
  • attirer l’attention des chercheurs, des auteurs écrivains francophones ainsi que le public sur le plan international.

A visiter régulièrement.

FG

Profil de Nguyễn Giáng Hương : actuellement chargée de collections en Langues et Littératures d’Asie du Sud-Est à la Bibliothèque nationale de France et chercheuse associée au Centre des Sciences des Littératures de Langue Française (E.A. 1586), elle a soutenu en 2015 une thèse intitulée La poétique du sujet multiculturel dans le roman vietnamien francophone de l’époque coloniale, dans la première moitié du XXe siècle à l’Université de Paris-Ouest Nanterre La Défense. Elle a publié plusieurs articles sur l’écrivain Phạm Văn Ký.