Translating Vô Trị — An Interview With Mèo Mun
What part do you hope to play in the revolutionary movement?
Mèo Mun, as it is and as its goals stand today, mainly works to provide a theoretical and educational backbone to the anarchist movement in Vietnam. Specifically, we do the work of archiving, translating, and disseminating anarchist texts, which can be...
How are you organised and who makes the decisions?
We are organised in a horizontal, fairly spontaneous manner. When it comes to decisions that affect the whole group, we all discuss our options, reach a certain consensus and then carry it out. This is possible since our group is not yet massive in sc...
In all nations anarchists have to deal with the regressive force of nationalism. You’ve critiqued Vietnamese nationalism quite significantly. In what ways do you believe it limits socialism in Vietnam, and how do you plan to tackle it?
First of all, we must be clear with our language and avoid wishy-washy terms like ‘socialism in Vietnam.’ Is this ‘socialism’ interchangeable with ‘communism’ — a stateless, classless, moneyless society, wherein everyone has free access to the means of...
What are [some of] the cultural roots of Vietnamese anarchism?
First of all, it should be noted that Vietnamese cultures are highly diverse: there are fifty-four ethnic groups (at least going by official state numbers), with more than one hundred Vietnamese dialects. As such, the cultural roots of anarchisms in...
What are the ideological foundations of your anarchism?
Mèo Mun, as a general anarchist organisation, does not strictly adhere to a specific anarchist tendency. The strength of anarchism lies in its diversity and flexibility, which encompass many fronts of struggles. As such, our members follow several di...
Mèo Mun seems to be the first group translating anarchist texts into Tieng Viet, what challenges are there in translating them?
The terms for many anarchist concepts in Vietnamese are either poorly worded or altogether non-existent. For example, one of the major problems we encountered right at the beginning was that the word for anarchism itself was not at all conducive to in...
In the past there was a degree of interaction between Vietnamese anarchists and those in other East Asian countries. Is this something you wish to revive, and how do you approach international collaboration more widely?
Indeed, during the 20th century (especially the 1920s), due to severe repression by the colonial government, many Vietnamese radicals went overseas to learn and seek support from other radical milieus. There, some came into contact with and were influenced by...
In what ways do you see anarchy as being applicable to the Viet context?
First, as we have said before, it’s crucial to keep in mind that the ‘Viet context’ is highly diverse. There are fifty-four ethnic groups in Vietnam, and life in different regions differs to varying degrees. We will not and cannot speak for and over other Viet communities whose contexts are wildly different from ours. Even amongst our members, our experiences differ as we are distinct individuals who have dealt and are dealing with struggles that are specific to our circumstances. With that said, we hold that the answer to this question lies with the groups in question when the time comes. For us to try and say what will happen is akin to speculation, nothing more. In the text, ‘Towards an Anarchism in the Philippine Archipelago’, Simoun Magsalin summarises the ubiquity of anarchism in the following manner: It is our sincere hope that everywhere in Vietnam, in our lifetimes and long after that, people will decide for themselves how to answer this question.
What particular problems do you face as a group and how do you deal with them?
As a group composed of distinct individuals with different life experiences, the first problem we naturally have to face is intragroup conflicts. Of course, to prevent them from arising in the first place, we try to break down the boundaries which ex...
What has been the biggest success in your struggle?
We are hesitant to call any of our activities a success. But if we were to, we think that simply putting our own thoughts and truth out there is a success. For people living under a regime like they do in Vietnam, the very act of voicing our thoughts and living our libertarian politics, let alone having people listen and show us solidarity, feels like being able to breathe for the first time. We risk much to breathe, but it is worth it. So, for those of you who refuse to fall for the Vietnamese statist propaganda, you are our biggest success. Being able to share our humble platforms with comrades in the diaspora also keeps us going. Viet anarchists in the diaspora face alienation and ostracisation as well, from nationalists and so-called leftists who label them fake Vietnamese and leap at every chance to fed-jacket and harass them. So being able to connect with each other and collectively speak against the systems of oppression has given us quite a bit of hope.
What advice would you offer those who would like to learn from your practice?
First, we would like to underline that we are not in any way a pioneer, and emphatically not a vanguard. Radicalism in Vietnam has a long and elaborate history; we just see that there is work to be done and clumsily set out to get it done. We ourselves are still learning, and therefore, our advice is rather basic. Evidently, it is not our intention to be teachers. This advice is shared between equals, nothing more:
Is there anything you would like to add that we have not covered?
Whew! If you made it to this part, please drink a nice cup of water! Thank you for reading and thanks to The Commoner for their diligent work and delightful questions. We had a great time discussing them between ourselves and answering them. Have an awesome day, and don’t forget to stay hydrated.
Bạn đã thích câu chuyện này ?
Hãy chia sẻ bằng cách nhấn vào nút bên trên
Truy cập trang web của chúng tôi và xem tất cả các bài viết khác!