The Working Class in North Viet Nam and the Launching of the Building of Socialism

Abstract

As orthodox Marxist-Leninists, the leaders of the Vietnamese Communist movement have always given a central position, both in the revolution and the building of socialism, to the working class. This article attempts to look at the doctrinal assumptions in terms of the concrete reality of a basically peasant society. The nature and role of the Vietnamese working class passed through a number of phases, covering the taking of root by the Indochinese Communist (later Workers') Party, the struggle against French rule, the period of reconstruction in the North after mid-1954 and the launching of the building of socialism. An attempt is made to analyse the sociological and organisational difficulties which the leadership experienced in keeping reality in line with doctrine during the last of these.