Socialist Citizenship in the Post-socialist Era Across Time and Space: A Closer Look at Cuba and Vietnam

Abstract

This chapter examines the construction and cultivation of socialist citizenship as a top-down national citizenship project that promotes collective political identities in Cuba and Vietnam. Focusing on the post-socialist era, it highlights how the meanings of socialist citizenship have continued to evolve in the educational contexts of each country since the collapse of the former Soviet Union. The chapter compares the ways in which Cuban and Vietnamese citizens, particularly young generations, as constituents of a political community are socialized and engaged in state-sponsored political and civic activities. The implementation aspect of the socialist citizenship ideals uncovers the increasing challenges that citizenship education faces and the complexities of changing citizen identities in each national context. The chapter also provides an analysis of existing research on the transnational factors that may have shaped the development and current direction of socialist citizenship in Cuba and Vietnam.