Friedrich Engels's view on theoretical thinking: innovative application by the Communist Party of Vietnam in the reform process

Before Doi Moi (December 1986), the CPV largely followed the Soviet model without sufficient consideration of Vietnam’s specific historical, social, geographical, cultural, and developmental conditions, leading to economic stagnation in the 1980s. Observing China’s market-oriented reforms from 1978 and their results, Vietnamese leaders pushed for innovation in thinking, content, and methods while maintaining a proletarian viewpoint. The CPV identified Engels’s revolutionary and scientific socialist theory as especially relevant and adopted it, clarifying the transitional path to socialism after 1986. The Party acknowledged earlier mistakes stemmed from a lack of systematic theoretical thinking and insufficient innovation in theory. Building on Engels’s methodological guidance—grounding theory in practice, linking theory with science, employing materialist dialectics, and mastering philosophical principles—the CPV undertook comprehensive reform. Research questions: What is Engels’s theoretical thinking? How has the CPV applied Engels’s theoretical thinking in innovation? What results has the innovation process achieved? How does innovation in Vietnam proceed based on Engels’s theoretical thinking? How does the CPV apply the innovation process of Engels’s theoretical thinking? Answering these questions explains CPV’s loyalty to Marxism and the evolution of Engels-inspired theoretical innovation from 1986 to the present.

The paper situates Engels’s theoretical thinking within Marxist-Leninist traditions and contrasts correct and incorrect applications historically. It notes misinterpretations and idealist distortions in the Soviet post-Lenin era (including under Stalin) that contributed to a theoretical crisis and policy failures, whereas China’s development drew on applying and developing Engelsian theoretical thinking in combination with Mao Zedong Thought and later frameworks (e.g., Deng Xiaoping Theory, Three Represents, Scientific Outlook, Xi Jinping Thought). Vietnamese scholarship (e.g., Chi 2023; Huan and Hieu 2016; Rua et al. 2006) argues that CPV’s success since 1986 is rooted in Engels’s methodological contributions and their creative application. The literature also emphasizes Engels’s independent works (Anti-Dühring, Dialectics of Nature, The Origin of the Family...) and his materialist dialectical method as providing foundations for socialist construction beyond Marx’s focus on capitalism’s critique. Vietnamese sources document CPV Congress decisions (VI–XIII) that progressively refined theoretical positions on a socialist-oriented market economy, private sector roles, and global integration, reflecting accumulated practical lessons consistent with Engels’s approach.

The study uses a logical-historical approach based on analysis and synthesis of available resources (journals, books, research articles). Primary sources are the Marx–Engels Collected Works and Engels’s independent classics, complemented by CPV documents (particularly since the 1986 reform) and related studies. The method aims to affirm Engels’s theoretical and practical grounds as applied by the CPV in forming leadership policies for socialist development, presenting Engels’s influence within the Marxist-Leninist tradition and emphasizing Engels’s philosophical contributions enabling socialist construction in countries like Vietnam.

- Engels’s systematic view of theoretical thinking: (1) theory must arise from practical experience and be tested by practice; (2) theoretical thinking is inseparable from scientific thinking, especially natural sciences; (3) it requires dialectical materialist thinking to grasp interconnections and development; (4) it demands mastering the history of philosophy to cultivate potential into real capacity. - Engels’s contributions extend to dialectical laws applied to nature and society, analysis of the division of labor, class formation, the path to socialism (including the possibility of a shortened transition in less developed countries), and principles of socialist management and proletarian democracy. - CPV creatively applied Engels’s methodology to renew theoretical thinking, shift from central planning to a socialist-oriented market economy, and guide comprehensive reforms. - Measurable socio-economic outcomes in Vietnam since Doi Moi: • GDP per capita rose from USD 235.7 (1985) to USD 3,756.5 (2021) and USD 4,110 (2022). • Average growth around 7% (2012–2019); 2.94% (2020), 2.58% (2021), 6.05% (2022). • Poverty rate fell from nearly 60% to under 3% over three decades; from 58% (1993) to 22% (2005) and 4.4% (2021) by the multidimensional poverty line; ethnic minority poverty reduced ~4% annually (long-run average). • HDI reached 0.704 in 2022, ranking 117/189. • Health indicators improved: maternal mortality decreased from 233/100,000 live births (1990) to 43 (2017); under-1 mortality from 36.9/1000 (1990) to 16.9 (2017); under-5 mortality declined steadily; stunting fell from 33.9% (2007) to 18.1% (2020); infant mortality 32.6/1000 (1993) to 16.7 (2020). • Broad international integration: normalization with China (1991) and the U.S. (1995), ASEAN (1995), WTO (2007), UNSC non-permanent member, and active roles in regional/global institutions. - Policy and institutional evolution aligned with Engels’s principles: acceptance of commodity production and markets, multi-ownership, private sector as a key driving force (Resolution 10-NQ/TW, 2017), openness to FDI, shift from state allocation to market-based mechanisms, legal and administrative reforms, and expanded political-legal rights within a socialist, law-based state. - The CPV explicitly identifies ongoing innovation in theoretical thinking as a strategic breakthrough, institutionalizing regular review of practice and theoretical development to inform policy, consistent with Engels’s insistence on the primacy of practice and dialectical development of theory.

The findings address the research questions by showing that Engels’s theoretical thinking comprises a methodological framework—practice-based, scientifically grounded, dialectical, and philosophically informed—that the CPV adopted to reform governance and economic policy. The CPV’s innovative application transformed a centrally planned system into a socialist-oriented market economy, with demonstrable gains in growth, poverty reduction, human development, health, and international standing. This practical success reinforces Engels’s claim that theory must be derived from and tested by practice. The analysis also clarifies how dialectical materialism improves decision-making by focusing on interconnections and developmental tendencies, helping the CPV avoid dogmatism, empiricism, and mechanical thinking evident in failed Soviet approaches, while drawing lessons from China’s adaptive applications. The significance lies in demonstrating that sustained theoretical innovation—rooted in Engels’s method—can guide socialist construction under contemporary conditions, shaping economic institutions, legal frameworks, and social policies in ways that align with objective laws and national specificities.

Engels’s theoretical thinking has served as a guiding methodology for the CPV, especially since 1986, enabling a shift from central planning to a socialist-oriented market economy and informing comprehensive reforms. By grounding theory in practice, integrating scientific analysis, applying materialist dialectics, and consolidating philosophical foundations, the CPV has innovated its theoretical understanding and leadership, achieving notable political, economic, and social outcomes. The CPV’s experience corroborates the vitality and correctness of Engels’s approach and extends it to issues Engels could not test in his time. Because theory must develop with changing conditions, the CPV emphasizes continuous innovation of theoretical thinking in line with practical needs and objective laws, suggesting future work to further refine socialism’s theoretical system and policy design through ongoing synthesis of practice and theory.