Colonial Intellectuals as Political Pivots

Intellectuals educated inside the coloniser’s academy (e.g., Trần Đức Thảo) often act as translators between metropolitan theory and indigenous resistance: they adapt, repurpose or reject Western philosophies to theorise coloniser/colonised relations and then become political actors who are vulnerable to both imperial and post‑colonial repression. — Recognising this role reframes decolonisation debates, academic‑freedom controversies, and curriculum reform by showing that philosophers can be both producers of theory and frontline political actors whose treatment exposes broader state–intellectual dynamics.