The Role of Class Struggle in North Vietnam

Abstract

It is strange that so few non-Vietnamese commentators have paid any attention to the role of class struggle in the Vietnam Revolution. After all, this is one of the most important and successful revolutionary movements of the twentieth century led by a Marxist-Leninist organization devoted to class struggle. And yet even sympathetic outsiders have scarcely mentioned the topic. In part, no doubt, this is due to practical considerations of support for the Vietnamese throughout the war, but it is also difficult to avoid the conclusion that many outsiders did not discuss class struggle because they thought it unimportant. In this they not only differ from the Vietnamese Communist Party but also fail to understand the dynamics of the Vietnamese Revolution and consequently cannot benefit from its lessons.This article can also be found at the Monthly Review website, where most recent articles are published in full.Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.