Maoism and the Chinese Revolution: A Critical Introduction (Revolutionary Pocketbooks)

The Chinese Revolution changed the face of the twentieth century, and the politics that issued from it—often referred to as “Maoism”—resonated with colonized and oppressed people from the 1970s down to the anticapitalist movements of today. But how did these politics first emerge? And what do they offer activists today, who seek to transform capitalist society at its very foundations? Maoism and the Chinese Revolution offers the novice reader a sweeping overview of five decades of Maoist revolutionary history. It covers the early years of the Chinese Communist Party, through decades of guerrilla warfare and rapid industrialization, to the massive upheavals of the Cultural Revolution. It traces the development of Mao Zedong’s military and political strategy, philosophy, and statecraft amid the growing contradictions of the Chinese revolutionary project. All the while, it maintains a perspective sympathetic to the everyday workers and peasants who lived under the party regime, and who in some moments stood poised to make the revolution anew. From the ongoing “people’s wars” in the Global South, to the radical lineages of many black, Latino, and Asian revolutionaries in the Global North, Maoist politics continue to resonate today. As a new generation of activists take to the streets, this book offers a critical review of our past in order to better transform the future. Front Cover 1 Title Page 2 Half Title 4 Half Title 5 Dedication 6 Contents 8 Introduction 12 I. Prologue: The First Chinese Revolution 16 1. The Emergence of Modern China 16 2. The Comintern: State Capitalist Foreign Policy 19 3. The Disaster of 1927 21 4. The Turn to the Countryside 24 II. People’s War from the Countryside 26 5. The Chinese Soviet Republic and the Long March: 1931–1935 26 6. The Yenan Heritage: 1935–1945 28 7. The United Front 32 8. The New Democratic Revolution 35 9. Mao and the Dialectic 39 10. Guerilla Warfare 46 11. Rectification and Liberation: 1946–1949 50 III. The CCP in State Power 56 12. Development and Bureaucratization: 1950–1956 56 13. The Crisis of De-Stalinization 61 14. The Hundred Flowers Campaign: 1956–1957 63 15. The Great Leap Forward: 1958–1962 68 16. The Great Famine 74 17. The Sino-Soviet Split in Theory and Practice: 1960–1963 77 18. An Explosion Waiting to Happen 81 IV. The Cultural Revolution 84 19. Revolution Inaugurated: 1965–1966 85 20. Red Guards in Beijing: 1966–1967 89 21. Dual Power in Shanghai: January 1967 93 22. The First Thermidor 96 23. The “Wuhan Incident” and Armed Struggle: 1967 99 24. Whither China? and the Ultra-Left 102 25. The Shanghai Textbook and Capitalist Ideology 107 26. Twilight of Possibility: 1976 112 V. Conclusions 116 27. Was China State Capitalist? 116 28. Where Did Maoism Come From? 125 29. What Is Useful in Mao’s Politics Today? 129 Further Reading 140 Notes 144 About the Author 159 "Offers a sweeping overview of five decades of Maoist revolutionary history. It covers the early years of the Chinese Communist Party, through decades of guerilla warfare and rapid industrialization, to the massive upheavals of the Cultural Revolution. It traces the development of Mao Zedong's military and political strategy, philosophy, and statecraft amid the growing contradictions of the Chinese revolutionary project. All the while, it maintains a perspective sympathetic to the everyday workers and peasants living under the party regime, who in some moments stood poised to make the revolution anew"--Back cover 'Maoism and the Chinese Revolution' provides a sweeping overview of five decades of Maoist revolutionary history and covers the early years of the Chinese Communist Party, through decades of guerrilla warfare and rapid industrialisation, to the massive upheavals of the Cultural Revolution