Liberal Philosophy and Vietnamese Identity in South Vietnam’s Higher Education (1956-1975): A Postcolonial Inquiry

Abstract

This study investigates the triadic philosophy of humanism – nationalism – liberalism that characterized South Vietnam’s higher education (1956–1975), framing it as a distinct postcolonial epistemic formation. Drawing upon postcolonial theories (Bhabha, Mignolo) and liberal education philosophy (Nussbaum, Menand), the research conceptualizes the Vietnamization of “liberal education” (giáo dục khai phóng) as an act of epistemic disobedience – an intellectual strategy to localize Western knowledge and reclaim epistemic agency. Using historical and discourse analysis, the study identifies a Vietnamese Liberal Hybrid Model consisting of three interactive layers: (1) Epistemic Layer – the translation and reinterpretation of Western notions of humanism and freedom; (2) Institutional Layer – the practice of “autonomy within dependency,” reflecting the tension between academic freedom and external aid; (3) Cultural-Social Layer – the fusion of religious, philosophical, and modernization currents into spiritual and ethical liberalism. Findings reveal that South Vietnam’s liberal education did not replicate Western models but restructured them into a postcolonial form embodying Vietnamese moral identity: freedom linked with ethical responsibility, knowledge tied to community. This hybrid liberal model contributes to expanding global discourses on liberal education in Asia and offers philosophical foundations for contemporary Vietnamese higher education reform toward autonomy, identity, and decolonial knowledge reconstruction.