Between the Strikes: Everyday Acts of Resistance at Tonkinese Coal Mines

• In Event: 22. Forging Power and Space: Vietnamese Workers’ Acts of Resistance in an Evolving Political Landscape

Abstract

The coal miners of Tonkin are often portrayed as the most revolutionary segment of the Vietnamese working class. Their November 1936 strikes, which attracted tens of thousands workers, constituted one of the most pivotal and symbolic acts of confrontation between the Vietnamese proletariat and French imperial capitalism. This paper argues that the miners’ struggle should not be limited to these confrontational acts of going on strike. Instead, between the episodes of open hostility, the miners engaged in various subtle tactics of defiance that had little to do with the communist calls for structural changes or to the common workers’ demands relating to pay, working hours, or benefits. Borrowing James Scott’s concept of “everyday resistance” and drawing from archival files on accidents and crime involving miners, my research illustrates the miners’ struggle against the abuse and misery through individual and group actions such as desertion, wildcat stoppage, foot-dragging, cheating, and illicit leisure activities such as gambling, drinking and drug use. With little coordination or planning, these acts were aimed at resolving the minor, opportunistic needs of the miners such as the possibility of gaining short breaks from work, one or two days of paid sick leave, private downtime or, simply, respect from the foremen and managers. These everyday actions demonstrate the ingenuity and adaptability of Vietnamese workers who were able to carve out their own private space free from the interference of both the French mining companies and Vietnamese communist agents.

Author

• Thuy Linh Nguyen, Mount Saint Mary College