🧵 Dialectical Materialist Analysis of Land Back / Indigenous Liberation: a Thread🧵
I have seen SO many communists display a range of misunderstanding ranging from honest ignorance to aggressive bigotry pertaining to the indigenous concept of LAND BACK.
So let's discuss!
I have seen SO many communists display a range of misunderstanding ranging from honest ignorance to aggressive bigotry pertaining to the indigenous concept of LAND BACK.
So let's discuss!
First, indigenous people are NOT a monolith. I can't speak for all indigenous people. Land Back means different things for different indigenous people. This relates to the Dialectical Materialist concept which in Vietnamese socialism we call "private and common."
Just like with communism, Land Back manifests in different ways for individual indigenous peoples (private aspects), but there are also commonalities which exist across most indigenous movements.
I can't speak for all indigenous peoples, but having spoken to MANY indigenous people from many different places all around the world I can speak of COMMONALITIES.
I can also speak as a Vietnamese woman from Thanh Hoa, a place where my people have lived for many, many centuries.
I can also speak as a Vietnamese woman from Thanh Hoa, a place where my people have lived for many, many centuries.
I will speak more about Land Back in Vietnam later, but first let's introduce some basics about Land Back and dialectical materialism.
Most indigenous people are NOT dialectical materialists, but that doesn't mean we can't use dialectical materialism as a frame for Land Back.
Most indigenous people are NOT dialectical materialists, but that doesn't mean we can't use dialectical materialism as a frame for Land Back.
Dialectical Materialism views all of reality as processes in motion composed of internal and external relations.
Everything is always developing. Just as Land Back exists differently for different people, it changes over time.
Everything is always developing. Just as Land Back exists differently for different people, it changes over time.
You can think of Land Back as a revolutionary philosophy of indigenous liberation centered around one core idea:
The brutal theft of land from indigenous people has caused an incredible amount of harm to indigenous people: harm which indigenous people seek to undo systemically.
The brutal theft of land from indigenous people has caused an incredible amount of harm to indigenous people: harm which indigenous people seek to undo systemically.
The 3 general goals of Land Back are:
1. Sovereignty: Self-determination and autonomy and an end to all colonialist oppression.
1. Sovereignty: Self-determination and autonomy and an end to all colonialist oppression.
Land rights: Restoration of land, which was stolen, so indigenous people can restore our cultures, economic standing, and ways of life.
("How much land? Do they wanna kick everyone out?!" I'll answer this later)
("How much land? Do they wanna kick everyone out?!" I'll answer this later)
3. Ecology: The protection of the land and the end of destructive practices which are irrevocably harming our planetary ecosystem.
This is the highest priority for almost every indigenous person I've ever talked to, including myself.
This is the highest priority for almost every indigenous person I've ever talked to, including myself.
Now, I have seen a lot of communists point to Land Back as "vague" and "idealist" because "they don't say exactly what Land Back means, how much land do they want, what are their concrete goals, etc."
Pretty absurd for COMMUNISTS to not get this, but let me explain.
Pretty absurd for COMMUNISTS to not get this, but let me explain.
Communism has also been accused of being vague idealism because Marx and Engels didn't give specific formulas for how to build communism and what a stateless society will look like.
Preface from Communist Manifesto:
Preface from Communist Manifesto:
Of course, this lack of concrete prescription and universal precepts of how to build communism and speculation about hypothetical communist societies of the future is by design. As Engels explains in Socialism: Utopian and Scientific:
The "real basis" Engels refers to are the material conditions which vary from one time and place to another.
So just as building towards communism will be different from one locality to another, Land Back and its immediate agenda will vary from one locality to another.
So just as building towards communism will be different from one locality to another, Land Back and its immediate agenda will vary from one locality to another.
Land Back, like all things, will develop in stages. in some places (like Vietnam) it has developed more fully. In most places there is a very long way to go and speculating on the end stages right now would be fruitless utopianism.
Most indigenous people are focused on immediate concerns and emergencies, which are plentiful in colonized societies. This is the proper dialectical materialist methodology: focus on immediate material conditions and contradictions. Yet settler "socialists" paint it as "vague."
Now, I will discuss Land Back from my own indigenous experience. It's true that the term "Land Back" is relatively new, but the word represents a set of principles and goals which go back centuries. So here is a Land Back viewpoint analysis of Vietnam using dialectical analysis.
I can speak from the viewpoint of my own culture and my own nation, which has successfully enacted two important stages of our own PRIVATE Land Back project in two ways: first, by wrenching our nation back from French colonizers, and second, by taking it from landed aristocracy.
Our Land Back movement isn't yet complete in four major ways:
1. Because we are a socialist nation making the long and arduous transition towards communism, we still have private ownership of land by capitalists, landlords, etc. Our goal is collective ownership of all land.
1. Because we are a socialist nation making the long and arduous transition towards communism, we still have private ownership of land by capitalists, landlords, etc. Our goal is collective ownership of all land.
We are dialectically moving towards that goal. Already in rural villages land is universally distributed; I have a 500 sq meter rice farm that was given to me at birth. Corporations can't own land, they can only lease it from the state. 90% of Vietnamese people own their homes.
We are making progress but have a long way to go. That said, we have come a LONG WAY from being brutally dominated by French, Japanese, and USA colonial projects.
This brings us to our next point:
2. Our sovereignty is still threatened by imperialism. This should be obvious to communists. The USA and other nations try to bully, sabotage, and manipulate our sovereignty and exploit us at every turn. They want their colony back.
2. Our sovereignty is still threatened by imperialism. This should be obvious to communists. The USA and other nations try to bully, sabotage, and manipulate our sovereignty and exploit us at every turn. They want their colony back.
3. There is still disparity between different communities of Vietnamese people: not just ethnic minorities, but even Kinh people (our ethnic majority) who choose to live traditional ways of life like in fishing villages, mountain towns, etc.
Again, we are making rapid progress but have a long way to go. We now have a higher percentage of ethnic minorities in our national assembly than in the general population, and utilities and services are being extended everywhere very quickly.
But until disparity is fully dealt with and all Vietnamese enjoy full equality (ie, the stateless, classless society we seek to build), our Land Back project is incomplete.
4. Ecology: this is where we have the longest way to go and the most commonality with all other people on earth. Obviously the entire planet's ecology is in danger now due to climate change. Vietnam certainly contributes to climate change.
We are working on this and have concrete goals, but obviously this needs to be an immediate concern for the Vietnamese people from a Land Back perspective and we need to do better.
Ok, so that's an overview of Vietnamese Land Back. Now you should be able to look dialectically at the indigenous people in your local area (and they should be your primary concern!)
What are the material conditions and immediate concerns of your local indigenous groups?
What are the material conditions and immediate concerns of your local indigenous groups?
If you are worried that indigenous people will "kick you out" and you'll lose your home and land, don't be n absurd idealist. Indigenous people don't have the power to do that, in most places. We don't want to treat settlers the way you treated us. We want self-determination.
And most indigenous people are focused on IMMEDIATE PROBLEMS. Connect with local indigenous people in your area and ask them what problems they face. Consider volunteering to help them. Talk to them and you'll get a picture of their private conditions, needs, and goals.
As a settler, it's 100% on you to investigate and understand, then work towards Land Back.
No investigation, no right to speak.
And why should you CARE about liberating indigenous people?
Read this thread:
No investigation, no right to speak.
And why should you CARE about liberating indigenous people?
Read this thread:
https://mobile.twitter.com/LunaOi_VN/status/1443354191477366791
PS: I block settlers running ops to claim that Land Back is just a capitalist scheme. Of course libs DO try to recuperate Land Back, as with all social movements. That's part of the struggle. Look at LGBTQ+ movement, disability rights, etc. Doesn't contradict what I've said.
If someone wants to say "this specific group or org has these specific problems," that's one thing. But bad actors and recuperation are phenomena, have nothing to do with the essence of what I've talked about in this thread. Learn the difference or you'll be the next target.
One more thought: a lot of Western MLs look down on indigenous movements as "non-Marxist" without realizing how much Marx and Engels lifted from indigenous political theory. Seek a comprehensive and historical perspective. Watch this:
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