Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gvvz8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T08:05:52.207Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Anticolonial Constitutionalism: The Case of Hồ Chi Minh

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 May 2018

SON NGOC BUI
SON NGOC BUI*
Affiliation:
Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Asian Legal Studies National University of Singapore Faculty of [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

How is modern constitutionalism related to anticolonialism? This Article takes into account this question with a special reference to the case of Hồ Chi Minh. It argues that modern constitutionalism offers a powerful ideational and discursive weapon for the colonized people to struggle against colonialism. To understand this, the Article introduces the concept of ‘anticolonial constitutionalism’, defined as a form of political discourse in which anticolonialists employ the language and ideas of modern constitutionalism to combat the predatory colonial government and to express the aspirations to a constitutional government. Anticolonial constitutionalism emerges under three conditions, namely exploitatory and arbitrary colonialism, anticolonialism, and constitutional enlightenment. The case of Hồ Chí Minh illustrates this phenomenon well. When Vietnam was under French colonialism as a part of French Indochina during the first half of the twentieth century, Vietnamese anticolonialism was vehement, and different anticolonialists employed the language and ideas of constitutionalism to oppose the colonial government. One of them was Hồ Chí Minh, considered by many Vietnamese as the father and icon of the nation. A tremendously influential anticolonialist, he was enlightened with constitutionalist knowledge and employed key ideas of modern constitutionalism, namely a written constitution, the rule of law, popular sovereignty, and fundamental rights to struggle against French colonialism and to express such aspirations to a constitutional government in Vietnam. This study has implications for the trajectory of constitutionalism in contemporary Vietnam given the continuing influence of Hồ Chí Minh's constitutionalist discourse in the country nowadays. More generally, this study has implications for the relationship between constitutionalism and anticolonialism.

Type
Research Article
Information
Japanese Journal of Political Science , Volume 19 , Issue 2 , June 2018 , pp. 197 - 221
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Albert, Richard (2018), ‘Constitutional Amendment and Dismemberment’, Yale Journal of International Law, 1–84.Google Scholar
Alexander, Larry (ed.) (1998), Constitutionalism: Philosophical Foundations, New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Anonymous (1986), Chủ tịch Hồ Chí Minh-Tiểu sử và Sự nghiệp, Hanoi: Truth Publishing House.Google Scholar
Association, Bar (1975), Pháp lý Phục vụ Cách Mạng (Legislations Severving Revolution), Hanoi: Bar Association.Google Scholar
Brocheux, Pierre (2007), Ho Chi Minh- A Biography, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Bui, Ngoc Son (2015), ‘Restoration Constitutionalism and Socialist Asia’, Loyola of Los Angeles International and Comparative Law Review, 37: 67–116.Google Scholar
Bui, Ngoc Son (2016), Confucian Constitutionalism in East Asia, London and New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Buttinger, J. (1968), Vietnam: A Political History, New York: Frederick A. Freaeger.Google Scholar
Buttinger, J. (1976), Vietnam: A Dragon Embattled, Vol. 1: From Colonialism to the Vietminh, New York and London: Praeger.Google Scholar
Chang, Wen-Chen et al. (2014), Constitutionalism in Asia: Cases and Materials, Oxford and Portland, OR: Hart.Google Scholar
Chen, A. H. (2010), ‘Pathways of Western Liberal Constitutional Development in Asia: A Comparative Study of Five Major Nations’, International Journal of Constitutional Law, 8: 849–84.Google Scholar
Chen, Yun-Ru (2014), ‘“Rule of Law” as Anti-Colonial Discourse: Taiwanese Liberal Nationalists’ Imagination of Nation and World under Japanese Colonialism’ Law Text Culture, 18: 166–97.Google Scholar
Đinh, Xuân Lâm (ed.) (1997), Tân thư và Xã hội Việt Nam cuối Thế kỷ XIX đầu Thế kỷ XX (‘New Books’ and Vietnamese Society in the Period of the Late 19th Century to the Early 20th Century), Hanoi: National Political Publishing House.Google Scholar
Duiker, William J. (2000), Ho Chi Minh, New York: Hyperion.Google Scholar
Fenn, Charles (1973), Ho Chi Minh: A Biographical Introduction, New York: Scribner's & Son.Google Scholar
Gettleman, Marvin E., Franklin, Jane, Young, Marilyn B., and Franklin, H. Bruce (eds.) (1995), Vietnam and America: A Documented History, New York: Grove Press.Google Scholar
Ginsburg, Tom (2012), ‘Constitutionalism: East Asian Antecedents’, Chicago-Kent Law Review, 88: 11–33.Google Scholar
Grimm, Dieter (2010), ‘The Achievement of Constitutionalism and its Prospects in a Changed World’, in Dobner, and Loughlin, Martin (eds.), The Twilight of Constitutionalism?, Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Grimm, Dieter (2016), Constitutionalism: Past, Present, and Future, Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Grote, Rainer and Röder, Tilmann J. (2016), Constitutionalism, Human rights, and Islam after the Arab spring, New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Hahm, Chaihark (2000), ‘Confucian Constitutionalism’, SJD diss., Harvard Law School.Google Scholar
Henkin, Louis (1993), ‘New Birth of Constitutionalism: Genetic Influences and Genetic Deflects’, Cardozo Law Review, 14: 533–6.Google Scholar
Hồ Chí Minh (2000), Toàn tập, Tập I, II, III, IV [Completed Works, Vols. I, II, III, IV], Hanoi: National Politics Publishing House.Google Scholar
Hồ Chí Minh, Decree No. 14/SL, dated 08/9/1045.Google Scholar
Institute of Legal Studies (ed.) (1993), Nghiên cứu tư tưởng Hồ Chí Minh về Nhà nước và Pháp luật [The Study of Ho Chi Minh's Thought on State and Law], Hanoi: Institute of Legal Studies.Google Scholar
Kumarasingham, H. (ed.) (2016), Constitution-Making in Asia: Decolonisation and State-Building in the Aftermath of the British Empire, Oxford and New York: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marr, David G. (1971), Vietnamese Anticolonialism, 1885–1925, Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Marr, David G. (1995), ‘Ho Chi Minh's Independence Declaration’, in Taylor, K. W. and Whitmore, John K. (eds.), Essays into Vietnamese Pasts, Studies on Southeast Asia, Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, pp. 221–31.Google Scholar
Marr, David G. (2013), Vietnam: State, War, and Revolution (1945–1946), Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.Google Scholar
McIlwain, Charles Howard (1969), Constitutionalism and the Changing World, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
McIlwain, Charles Howard (2005) Constitutionalism, Ancient and Modern, Clark, NJ: The Lawbook Exchange.Google Scholar
National Assembly Office (1994) Lịch sử Quốc hội Việt Nam (1946–1960) [History of Vietnam's National Assembly], Hanoi: National Politics Publishing House.Google Scholar
Nguyễn Đình Lộc (2005), ‘Hồ Chí Minh: Tư tưởng ‘Trăm Điều Phải có Thần linh Pháp quyền’ và Việc Xây dựng Hệ thống Pháp Luật Việt Nam’ [Hồ Chí Minh: The Thought ‘Hundreds of Things that must Possess the Spirit of Law’ and the Construction of the Vietnamese Legal System’, Tạp chí Nghiên cứu Lập pháp [Legislative Studies Journal], Vol. 53.Google Scholar
Nguyễn Ngọc Minh (1982), Chủ tịch Hồ Chí Minh, Sự nghiệp xây dựng Nhà nước Kiểu mới và Pháp luật ở Việt Nam [President Ho Chi Minh and the Career of Constructing the New Model of State and Law in Vietnam], Hanoi: Social Sciences Publishing House.Google Scholar
Nguyễn Sỹ Dũng (2004), ‘Thần linh Pháp quyền’ [‘Spirit of Law’], in Một Góc nhìn của Trí thức, Tập 4 [Intellectuals’ Perspective, Volume 4], Hanoi: Youth Publishing House and the Light Magazine.Google Scholar
Nguyễn Sỹ Dũng (2014), Nguồn Cội của Pháp quyền [The Origin of The Rule of Law], Chúng ta (30/4/2014), http://www.chungta.com/nd/tu-lieu-tra-cuu/nguon_coi_cua_phap_quyen.html.Google Scholar
Phan, Đăng Thanh (2006), Tư tưởng Lập hiến Việt Nam nửa đầu Thế kỷ 20 [Vietnamese Constitutional Thoughts in the First Half of the Twentieth Century], Hanoi: Judicial Publishing House.Google Scholar
Phan, Đăng Thanh (2006), Tư tưởng Lập hiến Việt Nam nửa đầu Thế kỷ 20 [Vietnamese Constitutional Thoughts in the First Half of the Twentieth Century], Hanoi: Judicial Publishing House.Google Scholar
Raina, Peter (ed.) (2009), A. V. Dicey: General Characteristics of English Constitutionalism: Six Unpublished Lectures, Oxford: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
Rosenfeld, Michel (2014), ‘Is Global Constitutionalism Meaningful or Desirable?’ The European Journal of International Law, 25 (1): 177–99.Google Scholar
Shinoda, Hideaki (2000), Re-examining Sovereignty: From Classical Theory to the Global Age, New York: St. Martin's Press.Google Scholar
Song Thành (1993), ‘Mấy Vấn đề về Phương pháp Luận Nghiên cứu Tư tưởng Hồ Chí Minh về Nhà nước Pháp quyền’ [Some Methodologial Matters on Study Ho Chi Minh's Thoughts on Rule of Law State’], in Institute of Legal Studies (ed.), Nghiên cứu tư tưởng Hồ Chí Minh về Nhà nước và Pháp luật [The Study of Ho Chi Minh's Thought on State and Law], Hanoi: Institute of Legal Studies.Google Scholar
Song Thành (ed.) (2006), Hồ Chí Minh Tiểu Sử [Hồ Chí Minh's Biography], Hanoi: Political Theory Publishing House.Google Scholar
Stanford Encyclopedic Philosophy, ‘Constitutionalism’, http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/constitutionalism/ (accessed 25 March 2013).Google Scholar
Tan, Kevin Y. L. (2002), ‘The Making and Remaking of Constitutions in Southeast Asia: An Overview’, Singapore Journal of International and Comparative Law, 6: 1–41.Google Scholar
Teitel, Ruti (2000), Transitional Justice, New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
The White House's Office of the Press Secretary (2013), Remarks by President Obama and President Truong Tan Sang of Vietnam after Bilateral Meeting, https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2013/07/25/remarks-president-obama-and-president-truong-tan-sang-vietnam-after-bila.Google Scholar
Towster, Julian (1948), Political Power in the USSR, 1917–1947, New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Trần, Văn Giàu (1973), Sự Phát Ttriển của Tư tưởng ở Việt Nam, Tập II (The Development of Thoughts in Vietnam, Volume II), Hanoi: Social Science Publishing House.Google Scholar
Tsesis, Alexander (2012), ‘Self-Government and the Declaration of Independence’, Cornell Law Review, 97: 693–752.Google Scholar
Vroom, Cynthia (1988), ‘Constitutional Protection of Individual Liberties in France: The Conseil Constitutionnel since 1971’, Tulane Law Review, 63: 274–5.Google Scholar
Vũ Đình Hòe (1993), ‘Tìm hiểu Tư tưởng Hồ Chí Minh qua Hoạt động Hành pháp và Bộ máy Hành pháp của Người’ [‘Study Hồ Chí Minh's Thought through His Executive Activities and Executive Apparatus’], in Institute of Legal Studies (ed.), Nghiên cứu tư tưởng Hồ Chí Minh về Nhà nước và Pháp luật [The Study of Ho Chi Minh's Thought on State and Law], Hanoi: Institute of Legal Studies.Google Scholar
Hòe, Vũ Đình (2005), Pháp quyền Nhân nghĩa Hồ Chí Minh [Ho Chi Minh's Humane-Righteous Law], Ho Chi Minh City: Youth Publishing House.Google Scholar
Vũ Minh Giang (ed.) (2008), Những Đặc trưng Cơ bản của Bộ máy Quản lý Đất nước và Hệ thống Chính trị Nước ta Trước Thời kỳ Đổi mới [The Basic Characteristics of the Mechanism of National Governance and the Political System in Our Country Prior to the Renovation Period], Hanoi: National Political Publishing House.Google Scholar
Walker, Graham (1997), ‘The Idea of Nonliberal Constitutionalism’, in Shapiro, Ian and Kymlicka, Will (eds.), Nomos XXXIX: Ethnicity and Group Rights, New York and London: New York University Press.Google Scholar
Wyzanski, Charles E. (1968), ‘Constitutionalism: Limitation and Affirmation’, in Sutherland, Arthur E. (ed.), Government under Law, New York: Da Capo Press.Google Scholar
Yegorow, A. (1981), ‘The Constitution of the Land of Developed Socialism’, in Goncharuk, M. (ed.), Constitution of the USSR: Theory and Policy, Moscow: ‘Social Science Today’, USSR Academy of Sciences.Google Scholar
Zhang, Qianfan (2010), ‘A Constitution without Constitutionalism? The Paths of Constitutional Development in China’, International Journal of Constitutional Law, 8 (4): 950–76.Google Scholar