The Ralph J. Bunche Award is presented annually by the American Political Science Association (APSA) to honor the best scholarly work in political science that explores the phenomenon of ethnic and cultural pluralism.
Citation from the Award Committee:
In The Architects of Dignity, Kevin Pham effectively weaves a complex, compelling, and accessible narrative of how six Vietnamese intellectuals conceptualized dignity in their anticolonial struggle.
This is a stubbornly original work that makes a significant contribution to many fields, including the literatures on nationalism, social movements, race and politics, post-colonial theory, and comparative political theory.
From a theoretical standpoint, The Architects of Dignity rebuilds our understanding of the emotional foundations of nationalism by rethinking the role of shame and its role in the assertion of dignity. The book makes four arguments: (1) that dignity is a property of nations and not only individuals or groups (2) that it can be found in the actions and ideas of a nation’s people rather than the circumstances imposed on them (3) that it can therefore be asserted through these actions and ideas rather than being dependent on recognition and (4) shame, when self-consciously and collectively experienced, can be a catalyst in the search for, and the assertion of, collective dignity.
These arguments require the reader to grapple with the possibility that the feelings of shame that emerge in those subjected to the brutality of colonization or other forms of oppression emerge not only from outside but also from within. However, Pham points out that such shame can in fact be self-affirming: it need not lead to violence or scapegoating or the internalization of a sense of inferiority but can instead have a humanizing and dignifying effect.
Also, while focused on Vietnam, Pham’s work speaks to the experiences of victims of colonization in multiple contexts and makes contemporary connections to the social movements that followed events such as the murder of George Floyd in 2020, or sentiments echoed even earlier in the messages of Malcolm X and Marcus Garvey.
From an empirical standpoint, The Architects of Dignity breaks new ground by bringing Vietnam into the study of nationalism and political theory, by drawing on new primary sources in Vietnamese and French, and by showing how the Vietnamese figures it focuses on can be approached, not only as political actors but as theorists whose writings contribute to political and postcolonial theory.
Kevin D. Pham is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Amsterdam, where he teaches political theory and international relations. His articles appear in journals such as Theory & Event, European Journal of Political Theory, Review of Politics, Polity, and Philosophy and Global Affairs, among others. These articles explore the history of nineteenth and twentieth century political thought, focusing on how theories of democracy, freedom, and revolution travel across cultures and are adapted by activists and intellectuals responding to colonialism. He co-hosts two podcasts (Nam Phong Dialogues and Viet History Makers) that make Vietnamese history accessible to a broad public. He is from San Jose, California. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of California, Irvine (2010), his master’s degree in Conflict Resolution from the University of Amsterdam (2012), and his PhD in Political Science from the University of California, Riverside (2020). Since 2009, he has worked with the Center for International Experiential Learning to bring more than 600 undergraduates to conflict-affected regions for experiential learning. From 2020 to 2023, he was an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Gettysburg College. Visit Kevin’s website here: https://www.kevindoanpham.com/
APSA thanks the committee members for their service: Dr. Kanchan Chandra (Chair) of New York University, Dr. Amy Liu of University of Texas at Austin, Dr. Gbemende E. Johnson of University of Georgia, and Dr. Dan Tichenor of University of Oregon