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'''Maoism''', also known as the '''Mao Zedong Thought ''' (''mao zedong sixiang 毛泽东思想''), is an [[anti-Revisionist]] form of [[Marxism|Marxist]] [[communist]] theory, derived from the teachings of the [[People's Republic of China|Chinese]] political leader [[Mao Zedong]] (1893–1976). Developed during the 1950s and 1960s, it is widely applied as the political and military guiding ideology in the [[Communist Party of China]] (CPC) from Mao's ascendancy to its leadership until the party was taken over by [[Deng Xiaoping]], who implemented [[Deng Xiaoping Theory]] and [[Chinese economic reform]]s in 1978. Nonetheless, although not fully adhered to by the government of the People's Republic of China anymore due to the reforms, Maoist parties and groups exist throughout the world, most notably in [[Shining Path|Peru]], [[Communist Party of India (Maoist)|India]], and [[Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)|Nepal]], in the latter of which, the Maoist party won the [[Nepalese Constituent Assembly election, 2008|elections]] in 2008.<ref>http://www.india-defence.com/reports-2361</ref>
==Components of Maoism==
===Basic components===
#[[People's war]]: The armed branch of the party must not be distinct from the masses. To conduct a successful revolution the needs and demands of the masses must be the most important issues.
#[[New Democracy]]: In backward countries, socialism cannot be introduced before the country has gone through a period in which the material conditions improve. This cannot be done by the [[bourgeoisie]], as its progressive character is long since replaced by a regressive character.
#Contradictions as the most important feature of society: Society is dominated by a wide range of contradictions. As these are different in nature, they must also be handled in different ways. The most important divide is the divide between contradictions among the masses and contradictions between the masses and their enemies. Also the socialist institutions are plagued with contradictions, and these contradictions must not be suppressed as they were during Stalin's era.
#[[Cultural revolution]]: The revolution does not wipe out bourgeois ideology; the class-struggle continues, and even intensifies, during socialism. Therefore an instant{{Clarify|date=April 2011}} struggle against these ideologies and their social roots must be conducted.
#[[Three Worlds Theory]]: During the [[Cold War]], two imperialist states formed the “first world”; the [[United States]] and the [[Soviet Union]]. The second world consisted of the other imperialist states in their spheres of influence. The third world consisted of the non-imperialist countries. Both the first and the second world exploit the third world, but the first world is the most aggressive part. The workers in the first and second world are “bought up” by imperialism, preventing socialist revolution. The people of the third world, on the other hand, have not even a short-sighted interest in the prevailing circumstances. Hence revolution is most likely to appear in third world countries, which again will weaken imperialism opening up for revolutions in other countries too.<ref name="emg"> [http://www.marxists.org/glossary/terms/m/a.htm#maoism Maoism] Glossary of Terms, Encyclopedia of Marxism</ref>
===Contradiction===
Mao drew information from the writings of [[Marx]], [[Engels]] and [[Lenin]] in elaborating his theory. Philosophically, his most important reflections emerge on the concept of "contradiction" (''maodun''). In two major essays, “On contradiction” and “On the correct handling of contradictions among the people”, he adopts the [[positivist]]-[[empiricist]] idea (shared by Engels) that contradiction is present in matter itself (and thus, also in the ideas of the brain). Matter always develops through a dialectical contradiction:
{{quote|"The interdependence of the contradictory aspects present in all things and the struggle between these aspects determine the life of things and push their development forward. There is nothing that does not contain contradiction; without contradiction nothing would exist".<ref>Mao Tse Tung, "On contradiction", Selected Readings from the Works of Mao Tse-Tung, Foreign Language Press, Peking, 1967, p. 75, or http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/volume-1/mswv1_17.htm.</ref>}}
Furthermore, each contradiction (including [[class struggle]], the contradiction holding between relations of production and the concrete development of forces of production) expresses itself in a series of other contradictions, some dominant, others not.
{{quote|"There are many contradictions in the process of development of a complex thing, and one of them is necessarily the principal contradiction whose existence and development determine or influence the existence and development of the other contradictions".<ref>Mao Tse-Tung, "On contradiction", Selected Readings from the Works of Mao Tse-Tung, op. cit., p. 89, or http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/volume-1/mswv1_17.htm.</ref>}}
Thus, the principal contradiction should be tackled with priority when trying to make the basic contradiction "solidify". Mao elaborates further on this theme in the essay “On practice. On the relation between knowledge and practice, between knowing and doing”. Here, “Practice” connects "contradiction" with "class struggle" in the following way: Inside a mode of production, there are three realms where practice functions: economic production, scientific experimentation (which also takes place in economic production and should not be radically disconnected from the former) and finally, class struggle. These may be considered the proper objects of economy, scientific knowledge, and politics.<ref>Cfr. Mao Tse-Tung, "On practice. On the relation between knowledge and practice, between knowing and doing", Selected Readings from the Works of Mao Tse-Tung, op.cit., p. 55: "Man's social practice is not confined to activity in production, but takes many forms—class struggle, political life, scientific and artistic pursuits; in short, as a social being, man participates in all spheres of the practical life of society. Thus man, in varying degrees, comes to know the different relations between man and man, not only through his material life but also though his political and cultural life (both of which are intimately bound up with material life)", or http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/volume-1/mswv1_16.htm.</ref> These three spheres deal with matter in its various forms, socially mediated. As a result, they are the only realms where knowledge may arise (since truth and knowledge only make sense in relation to matter, according to Marxist epistemology). Mao emphasizes—like Marx in trying to confront the "bourgeoisie idealism" of his time—that knowledge must be based on [[empirical evidence]]. Knowledge results from hypotheses verified in the contrast with a real object; this real object, despite being mediated by the subject’s theoretical frame, retains its materiality and will offer resistance to those ideas that do not conform to its truth. Thus, in each of these realms (economic, scientific and political practice), contradictions (principle and secondary) must be identified, explored and put to function to achieve the communist goal. This involves the need to know, "scientifically", how the masses produce (how they live, think, and work), to obtain knowledge of how class struggle (the main contradiction that articulates a mode of production, in its various realms) expresses itself.
===People's War===
Maoism's political orientation emphasizes the "revolutionary struggle of the vast majority of people against the exploiting classes and their state structures", which Mao termed a "[[People's War]]". Usually involving peasants, its military strategies have involved [[guerrilla war]] tactics focused on surrounding the cities from the countryside, with a heavy emphasis on political transformation through mass involvement of the lower classes of society.
===Agrarian socialism===
Maoism departs from conventional European-inspired Marxism in that its focus is on the agrarian countryside, rather than the industrial urban forces. This is known as [[Agrarian socialism]]. Notably, Maoist parties in Peru, Nepal and Philippines have adopted equal stresses on urban and rural areas, depending on the country's focus of economic activity. Maoism broke with the [[state capitalist]] framework of the [[Soviet Union]] under [[Nikita Khrushchev]] and dismisses it as modern [[Marxist revisionism|revisionism]], a traditional pejorative term among communists referring to those who fight for capitalism in the name of socialism.
===New Democratic Revolution ===
The theory of the [[New Democracy]] was known to the Chinese revolutionaries from the late 40’s. This thesis held that for the majority of the peoples of the planet, the long road to [[socialism]] could only be opened by a ‘national, popular, democratic, anti-feudal and anti-imperialist revolution [the language of the day], run by the communists.'<ref>{{Cite news
| last = Amin
| first = Samir
| title = The Countries of the South Must Take Their Own Independent Initiatives
| newspaper =
| publisher = The Third World Forum
| date = October 2009
| url = http://www.forumtiersmonde.net/fren/index.php/activitesactions/249-the-countries-of-the-south-must-take-their-own-independent-initiatives
| accessdate = 2011-02-22}}
</ref>
And in the context of New Democratic revolution, the rationality of such economic policies as to destroy feudalism on the basis of land to the tiller, to confiscate all foreign and domestic economic establishments with a monopolistic character and to limit, control and guide private capital that do not control public life, have been proved in practice. <ref>{{Cite news
| last = Dahal
| first = Pushpa Kamal(Prachanda)
| title = On Maoism
| newspaper =PROBLEMS & PROSPECTS OF REVOLUTION IN NEPAL
| publisher = Published by (Printed Version): Janadisha Publications, Nepal, 2004
| date =
| url = http://web.archive.org/web/20041021024225/www.insof.org/collected/p_onmaoism.html
| accessdate = 2011-02-22}}
</ref>
===Criticisms of Stalin===
Maoism is theory and practice that claims to be an advancement of Marxism, developed as a critique of the [[Soviet Union]].<ref name="emg"/> While Mao Zedong (1893-1976) valued Stalin as a “great Marxist-Leninist”, he explained Stalin committed some crucial errors:
#Stalin did not understand [[dialectics]] and ended up in [[metaphysics]]. He hence sometimes did not understand the demands of [[the masses]]. He did not distinguish between the different kinds of contradictions.
#During the 1930s, the regime of Stalin sentenced many innocents to death.
#Stalin did not conduct [[democratic centralism]] within the party well enough.
#Stalin did not handle the connections with foreign Communist parties well enough, especially his handling of the [[Nanchang Uprising|1927 events in China]].<ref name="emg"/>
The result of these errors, according to Maoism, was that the Soviet Union was governed by a bureaucratic [[nomenclatura]] that later was to conduct a “silent counterrevolution” turning the Soviet Union into a [[Social-imperialism|Social-imperialist]] country, not crucially different from the United States.<ref name="emg"/>
==Post-revolution==
In its post-revolutionary period, Mao Zedong's thought is defined in the CPC's Constitution as "[[Marxism-Leninism]] applied in a Chinese context", synthesized by Mao Zedong and China's "[[Generations of Chinese leadership|first-generation leaders]]". It asserts that [[class struggle]] continues even if the [[proletariat]] has already overthrown the [[bourgeoisie]], and there are capitalist restorationist elements within the Communist Party itself. Maoism provided the CPC's first comprehensive theoretical guideline with regards to how to continue socialist revolution, the creation of a socialist society, socialist military construction, and highlights various contradictions in society to be addressed by what is termed "socialist construction". While it continues to be lauded to be the major force that defeated "imperialism and feudalism" and created a "New China" by the Communist Party of China, the ideology survives only in name on the Communist Party's Constitution; [[Deng Xiaoping]] abolished most Maoist practices in 1978, advancing a guiding ideology called "[[Socialism with Chinese characteristics]].<ref>[http://news.xinhuanet.com/ziliao/2002-11/18/content_633225_1.htm Xinhua: Constitution of the Communist Party of China]</ref>
== Maoism in China ==
{{Context|date=March 2009}}
{{Politics of the People's Republic of China}}
Since the death of Mao Zedong in 1976, and the capitalist reforms of [[Deng Xiaoping]] starting in 1978, the role of Mao's ideology within the People's Republic of China (PRC) has radically changed.<ref>[http://journalism.berkeley.edu/faculty/schell/schelldeng.html UC Berkeley Journalism - Faculty - Deng's Revolution<!--Bot-generated title-->]</ref> Although Mao Zedong Thought nominally remains the state ideology, Deng's admonition to [[seek truth from facts]] means that state policies are judged on their practical consequences; the role of ideology in determining policy, in many areas, has thus been considerably reduced. Deng also separated Mao from Maoism, making it clear that Mao was fallible and hence that the truth of Maoism comes from observing social consequences rather than by using Mao's quotations as [[Holy Writ|holy writ]], as was done in Mao's lifetime.{{Citation needed|date=April 2010}}
In addition, the party constitution has been rewritten to give the capitalist ideas of Deng Xiaoping prominence over those of Mao. One consequence of this is that groups outside China which describe themselves as Maoist generally regard China as having repudiated Maoism and restored [[capitalism]], and there is a wide perception both in and out of China that China has abandoned Maoism. However, while it is now permissible to question particular actions of Mao and to talk about excesses taken in the name of Maoism, there is a prohibition in China on either publicly questioning the validity of Maoism or questioning whether the current actions of the CPC are "Maoist."
Although Mao Zedong Thought is still listed as one of the [[four cardinal principles]] of the People's Republic of China, its historical role has been re-assessed. The Communist Party now says that Maoism was necessary to break China free from its feudal past, but that the actions of Mao are seen to have led to excesses during the [[Cultural Revolution]].{{Citation needed|date=April 2010}}
The official view is that China has now reached an economic and political stage, known as the [[Socialism with Chinese characteristics|primary stage of socialism]], in which China faces new and different problems completely unforeseen by Mao, and as such the solutions that Mao advocated are no longer relevant to China's current conditions. The official proclamation of the new CPC stand came in June 1981, when the Sixth Plenum of the Eleventh National Party Congress Central Committee took place. The 35,000-word "Resolution on Certain Questions in the History of Our Party Since the Founding of the People's Republic of China" reads:
[[Image:LonggangZhen-NanyangShidi-0026.jpg|thumb|"Mao Zedong is the Chinese people's savior!", an old slogan painted on the brick wall of a [[Chinese Buddhist]] [[Temple]]]]
"Chief responsibility for the grave 'Left' error of the 'cultural revolution,' an error comprehensive in magnitude and protracted in duration, does indeed lie with Comrade Mao Zedong . . . . [and] far from making a correct analysis of many problems, he confused right and wrong and the people with the enemy. . . . Herein lies his tragedy."<ref>http://www.country-studies.com/china/the-four-modernizations,-1979-82.html</ref>
Both Maoist critics{{Who|date=April 2010}} outside China and most Western commentators{{Who|date=April 2010}} see this re-working of the definition of Maoism as providing an ideological justification for what they see as the restoration of the essentials of capitalism in China by Deng and his successors.
Mao himself is officially regarded by the CPC as a "great revolutionary leader" for his role in fighting the Japanese and creating the People's Republic of China, but Maoism as implemented between 1959 and 1976 is regarded by today's CPC as an economic and political disaster. In Deng's day, support of radical Maoism was regarded as a form of "left deviationism" and being based on a [[cult of personality]], although these 'errors' are officially attributed to the [[Gang of Four (China)|Gang of Four]] rather than to Mao himself.{{Citation needed|date=April 2010}} Thousands of Maoists were arrested in the Hua Guofeng period after 1976, with prominent Maoists sentenced to death.{{Citation needed|date=April 2010}}
== Maoism outside China ==
From 1962 onwards, the challenge to the Soviet [[hegemony]] in the [[World Communist Movement]] made by the CPC resulted in various divisions in communist parties around the world. At an early stage, the [[Albanian Party of Labour]] sided with the CPC. So did many of the [[mainstream]] (non-splinter group) communist parties in South-East Asia, like the [[Burmese Communist Party]], [[Communist Party of Thailand]], and [[Communist Party of Indonesia]]. Some Asian parties, like the [[Workers Party of Vietnam]] and the [[Workers Party of Korea]] attempted to take a middle-ground position.
The Khmer Rouge of Cambodia is said to have been a replica of the Maoist regime. The Communist Party of Kampuchea (Cambodia), better known as the "[[Khmer Rouge]]", identified strongly with Maoism, and is generally labeled a "Maoist" movement today.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8373556.stm | work=BBC News | title=Khmer Rouge Duch trial nears end | date=2009-11-23 | accessdate=2010-05-12}}</ref><ref>http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/SEAsia/Story/STIStory_459313.html</ref> Maoists, however, are quick to point out that the CPK strongly deviated from Marxist doctrine, and that the few references to Maoist China in CPK propaganda were critical of the Chinese.<ref>http://www.aworldtowin.org/back_issues/1999-25/PolPot_eng25.htm</ref>
In Africa, [[Siad Barre|Siad Barre's]] regime in [[Somalia]] is often cited as being pro-Maoist, as it sided with the [[People's Republic of China]] during the [[Sino-Soviet split]] and, as such, China provided support to the regime during [[Ogaden War|its war]] with the pro-Soviet nations of [[Derg|Ethiopia]], [[Cuba]] and [[South Yemen]].
In the west and south, a plethora of parties and organizations were formed that upheld links to the CPC. Often they took names such as ''Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist)'' or ''Revolutionary Communist Party'' to distinguish themselves from the traditional pro-Soviet communist parties. The pro-CPC movements were, in many cases, based among the wave of student radicalism that engulfed the world in the 1960s and 1970s.
The [[Communist Party of India (Maoist)]] is a [[Maoist]] [[political party]] in [[India]] which aims to overthrow the government of India.<ref>{{Cite news
| last = Ridge
| first = Mian
| title = Maoists' hijacking of Indian train reveals new audacity
| newspaper = The Christian Science Monitor
| publisher = The Christian Science Monitor
| date = 2009-10-29
| url = http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Maoists-looking-at-armed-overthrow-of-state-by-2050/articleshow/5648742.cms
| accessdate = 2009-12-14}}
</ref> It was founded on September 21, 2004, through the merger of the [[Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) People's War]] and the [[Maoist Communist Centre|Maoist Communist Centre of India]] (MCC). The merger was announced to the public on October 14 the same year. In the merger a provisional central committee was constituted, with the erstwhile People's War Group leader [[Muppala Lakshmana Rao]] alias Ganapathi as General Secretary. It is currently proscribed as a [[terrorist]] organization by the Indian government for organizing mass killings in furtherance of their ideology.
Only one [[Western world|Western]] classic communist party sided with CPC, the [[Communist Party of New Zealand]]. Under the leadership of CPC and Mao Zedong, a parallel international communist movement emerged to rival that of the [[Soviets]], although it was never as formalized and homogeneous as the pro-Soviet tendency.
In the United States, the [[Black Panther Party]], especially [[Huey Newton]], was profoundly influenced by Maoist thought.
After the death of Mao in 1976 and the resulting power-struggles in China that followed, the international Maoist movement was divided into three camps. One group, composed of various ideologically nonaligned groups, gave weak support to the new Chinese leadership under Deng Xiaoping. Another camp denounced the new leadership as traitors to the cause of Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought. The third camp sided with the Albanians in denouncing the [[Three Worlds Theory]] of the CPC (see [[Sino-Albanian Split]].)
[[Che Guevara]], though initially praising the [[Soviet Union]] prior to, during and shortly after the [[Cuban Revolution]], later came out in support of Maoism, and advocated the adoption of the ideology throughout [[Latin America]]. The pro-Albanian camp would start to function as an international group as well,<ref>''ROMA OF THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA'' Author: Judith Latham DOI: 10.1080/009059999109037. Published in: journal Nationalities Papers, Volume 27, Issue 2 June 1999 , pages 205 - 226</ref> led by [[Enver Hoxha]] and the [[Albanian Party of Labour|APL]], and was also able to amalgamate many of the communist groups in Latin America, including the [[Communist Party of Brazil]] and [[Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Ecuador|Marxist-Leninist Communist Party]] in [[Ecuador]]. Later Latin American Communists such as [[Peru|Peru's]] [[Shining Path]] also embraced the tenets of Maoism.
The new Chinese leadership showed little interest in the various foreign groups supporting Mao's China. Many of the foreign parties that were [[fraternal party|fraternal parties]] aligned with the Chinese government before 1975 either disbanded, abandoned the new Chinese government entirely, or even renounced [[Marxism-Leninism]] and developed into non-communist, [[social democratic]] parties. What is today called the "international Maoist movement" evolved out of the second camp{{ndash}} the parties that opposed Deng and claimed to uphold the legacy of Mao.
== Maoist organizations ==
Today, there is no consensus on who does and who does not represent Maoism. Various efforts have sought to regroup the international communist movement under Maoism since the time of Mao's death in 1976.
One notable organization was the [[Revolutionary Internationalist Movement]] (RIM). RIM was founded in 1984 and included such notable organizations as the [[Shining Path|Communist Party of Peru]] (PCP), also known as "Sendero Luminoso" or "Shining Path," the then [[Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)]], now known as the [[Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)]] UCPN(M), and the [[Revolutionary Communist Party USA]] (RCP(USA)). Today, the RIM appears to be defunct or near defunct. The magazine associated with the RIM, A World To Win, has not published an issue since 2006, though A World To Win News Service still publishes regularly on the internet.<ref>http://www.aworldtowin.org/wordpress/</ref> In addition, many of the one-time RIM organizations have become increasingly critical of each other. This has resulted in many public splits. For example, recently the RCP USA has criticized the UCPN(M) as revisionist after the UCPN(M) abandoned its people's war for the parliamentary road. In addition, Red Sun, a web page that claims to be affiliated with some faction the Communist Party of Peru, has criticized both the UCPN(M) and RCP USA. Another movement that has criticized the UCPN(M) is the Communist Party of India (Maoist) -- although they were never formally a RIM member, the CPI(Maoist) was formed out of three organizations, some of which were RIM members, at conferences organized by RIM.<ref>http://revcom.us/a/1200/awtwindia.htm</ref><ref>http://www.massline.info/India/Indian_Groups.htm#CPI%28Maoist%29</ref>
Another effort at regrouping the international communist movement is the [[International Conference of Marxist-Leninist Parties and Organizations]] (ICMLPO). Two notable parties that participate in the ICMLPO are the [[Marxist Leninist Party of Germany]] (MLPD) and the [[Communist Party of the Philippines]] (CPP). The ICMLPO seeks to unity around Marxism-Leninism, not Maoism. However, some of the parties and organizations within the ICMLPO identify as Mao Zedong Thought or Maoist.
Other trends have sought to lead international Maoism. The [[Maoist Internationalist Movement]] (MIM) was founded in 1983 and largely dissolved by 2009. Although smaller than the ICMLPO and RIM, MIM's main influence was in intellectual and literary circles. Even though MIM dissolved organizationally, MIM-influenced efforts continue to exist. The Maoist-Third Worldist movement and the Leading Light Communist Organization, which was founded between 2007 and 2009, continues its efforts to spread its distinct form of Maoism through its print journal and online webpage Monkey Smashes Heaven. The Maoist-Third Worldist movement holds that there is no first world proletariat, that the first world "working class" is a bought-off, bourgeoisified labor aristocracy that aligns with imperialism against the masses of the third world, and claims to have developed Marxism to a new, fourth stage. Monkey Smashes Heaven takes a positive view of Lin Biao, a view not shared by others claiming to be Maoist. The Maoist-Third Worldist movement has published materials in English, Polish, Chinese, Tagalog, Czech, Greek, Macedonian, French, and Spanish.
The [[Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)]], a national communist party with a revolutionary background, is a follower of Maoism, although it is believed that the party has developed its own ideology, [[Prachanda Path]], which was developed taking Nepal's political, sociological and geographical constraints into consideration. Still, this party is believed to have taken Maoism as its doctrine as its name suggests.
In the USA the [[Kasama Project]] (KP), was initiated by former RCP USA members critical of what they viewed as the dogmatism and cult of personality of RCP USA. KP describes itself as seeking to radically re-imagine contemporary revolutionary politics. It is deeply influenced by Maoist thought, in particular as developed by the RCP USA, but claims members who arrive from other traditions, such as anarchism. KP has published articles in English, [[Persian language|Persian]], Spanish, and other languages.
== Military strategy ==
His writings include ''[[On Guerrilla Warfare]]'', where he lays out his ideas on [[guerrilla warfare]].<ref>[http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/works/1937/guerrilla-warfare/ On Guerrilla Warfare<!--Bot-generated title-->]</ref>
As with his economic and political ideas, Maoist military credo seems to have a more relevance at the start of the 21st century outside of the [[People's Republic of China]] than within it. There is a consensus both within and outside the PRC that the military context that the PRC faces in the early 21st century are very different from the one faced by China in the 1930s. As a result, within the inner circle of the [[People's Liberation Army]] there has been extensive debate over whether and how to relate Mao's military doctrines to 21st-century military ideas, especially the idea of a [[revolution in military affairs]].
== Critique and interpretations ==
Maoism has fallen out of favour within the Communist Party of China, beginning with Deng Xiaoping's reforms in 1978. Deng believed that Maoism showed the dangers of "ultra-leftism", manifested in the harm perpetrated by the various mass movements that characterized the Maoist era. In Chinese Communism, the term "left" can be taken as a euphemism for Maoist policies. However, Deng stated that the revolutionary side of Maoism should be considered separate from the governance side, leading to his famous epithet that Mao was "70% good, 30% bad". China scholars generally agree that Deng's interpretation of Maoism preserves the legitimacy of Communist rule in China but at the same time criticizes Mao's brand of economic and political governance.
Critic Graham Young claims that Maoists see [[Joseph Stalin]] as the last true socialist leader of the Soviet Union, but allows that the Maoist assessments of Stalin vary between the extremely positive and the more ambivalent.<ref>Graham Young, ''On Socialist Development and the Two Roads'', The Australian Journal of Chinese Affairs, No. 8 (Jul., 1982), pp. 75-84, doi:10.2307/2158927</ref> Some political philosophers, such as Martin Cohen, have seen in Maoism an attempt to combine [[Confucianism]] and [[Socialism]] - what one such called 'a third way between communism and capitalism'.<ref>Political Philosophy from Plato to Mao, by Martin Cohen, page 206, published 2001 by Pluto Press, London and Sterling VA ISBN 0745316034</ref>
== See also ==
* ''[[Quotations from Chairman Mao]]''
* [[History of the People's Republic of China]]
* [[Cult of Personality]]
* [[New Democracy]]
* [[Deng Xiaoping Theory]]
* [[Three Represents]]
* [[Chinese New Left]]
* [[Guevarism]]
* [[Communist Party of India (Maoist)]]
* [[Naxalite]]
* [[Naxalite-Maoist insurgency]]
== References ==
{{Reflist|2}}
== External links ==
=== General ===
<div class="references-small">
*[http://www.marx2mao.com/Mao/Index.html Marx2Mao.org] Mao Internet Library
*[http://marxists.org/glossary/terms/m/a.htm#maoism The Encyclopedia of Marxism] Mao Zedong Thought.
*[http://www.marxists.org/glossary/people/m/a.htm#mao-tse-tung The Encyclopedia of Marxism] Mao's life.
*[http://www.monthlyreview.org/0105commentary.htm ''Monthly Review'' January 2005] Text of the leaflets distributed by the Zhengzhou Four.
*[http://revmedia.net World Revolution Media] Maoist revolutionary film, music, and art archive
* Batchelor, J. [http://cliojournal.wikispaces.com/Maoism+and+Classical+Marxism Maoism and Classical Marxism], Clio History Journal, 2009.
</div>
=== Selected organizations ===
<div class="references-small">
*[http://pcpargentina.es.tl Communist Party of Argentina People]
*[http://slmarxist.yolasite.com Maoist Group of Sri Lanka.]
*[http://llco.org Leading Light Communist Organization -- Internationalist Maoist-Third Worldist Organization]
*[http://www.kasamaproject.org The Kasama Project]
*[http://english.cpc.people.com.cn/ Chinese Communist Party]
*[http://www.freedomroad.org/ Freedom Road Socialist Organization]
*[http://www.aworldtowin.org Revolutionary Internationalist Movement]
Committee of Marxist-Leninist-Maoist parties from around the world
*[http://revcom.us/ Revolutionary Communist Party, USA] ''Revolution'' newspaper online
*[http://www.ucpnm.org/english/index.php www.ucpnm.org] Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)
*[http://www.sarbedaran.org www.sarbedaran.org] Communist Party of Iran (MLM) *in [[Persian language|Persian]]*
*[http://www.philippinerevolution.net/ Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP)]
*[http://www.redsun.org/ Communist Party of Peru Shining Path ]
*[http://www.risparty.org/ Revolutionary Internationalist Socialist Party, USA (RISP) ]
*[http://www.ip.org.tr/ Workers' Party (Turkey)]
*[http://www.pcr-rcpcanada.org/ Revolutionary Communist Party of Canada (PCR-RCP)]
*[http://www.pctpmrpp.org Communist Party of the Portuguese Workers] PCTP/MRPP (Portugal)
*[http://trzeciswiat.wordpress.com Third World] Polish Journal of Maoism-Third Worldism
</div>
===Revolutions===
<div class="references-small">
* [http://news.google.com/news?q=Maoists&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off&sa=N&tab=wn Search for Maoists] on [[Google News]]
</div>
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'''Maoism''', also known as the '''Mao Zedong Thought ''' (''mao zedong sixiang 毛泽东思想''), is an [[anti-Revisionist]] form of [[Marxism|Marxist]] [[communist]] theory, derived from the teachings of the [[People's Republic of China|Chinese]] political leader [[Mao Zedong]] (1893–1976). Developed during the 1950s and 1960s, it is widely applied as the political and military guiding ideology in the [[Communist Party of China]] (CPC) from Mao's ascendancy to its leadership until the party was taken over by [[Deng Xiaoping]], who implemented [[Deng Xiaoping Theory]] and [[Chinese economic reform]]s in 1978. Nonetheless, although not fully adhered to by the government of the People's Republic of China anymore due to the reforms, Maoist parties and groups exist throughout the world, most notably in [[Shining Path|Peru]], [[Communist Party of India (Maoist)|India]], and [[Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)|Nepal]], in the latter of which, the Maoist party won the [[Nepalese Constituent Assembly election, 2008|elections]] in 2008.<ref>http://www.india-defence.com/reports-2361</ref>
==Components of Maoism==
===Basic components===
#[[People's war]]: The armed branch of the party must not be distinct from the masses. To conduct a successful revolution the needs and demands of the masses must be the most important issues.
#[[New Democracy]]: In backward countries, socialism cannot be introduced before the country has gone through a period in which the material conditions improve. This cannot be done by the [[bourgeoisie]], as its progressive character is long since replaced by a regressive character.
#Contradictions as the most important feature of society: Society is dominated by a wide range of contradictions. As these are different in nature, they must also be handled in different ways. The most important divide is the divide between contradictions among the masses and contradictions between the masses and their enemies. Also the socialist institutions are plagued with contradictions, and these contradictions must not be suppressed as they were during Stalin's era.
#[[Cultural revolution]]: The revolution does not wipe out bourgeois ideology; the class-struggle continues, and even intensifies, during socialism. Therefore an instant{{Clarify|date=April 2011}} struggle against these ideologies and their social roots must be conducted.
#[[Three Worlds Theory]]: During the [[Cold War]], two imperialist states formed the “first world”; the [[United States]] and the [[Soviet Union]]. The second world consisted of the other imperialist states in their spheres of influence. The third world consisted of the non-imperialist countries. Both the first and the second world exploit the third world, but the first world is the most aggressive part. The workers in the first and second world are “bought up” by imperialism, preventing socialist revolution. The people of the third world, on the other hand, have not even a short-sighted interest in the prevailing circumstances. Hence revolution is most likely to appear in third world countries, which again will weaken imperialism opening up for revolutions in other countries too.<ref name="emg"> [http://www.marxists.org/glossary/terms/m/a.htm#maoism Maoism] Glossary of Terms, Encyclopedia of Marxism</ref>
===Contradiction===
Mao drew information from the writings of [[Marx]], [[Engels]] and [[Lenin]] in elaborating his theory. Philosophically, his most important reflections emerge on the concept of "contradiction" (''maodun''). In two major essays, “On contradiction” and “On the correct handling of contradictions among the people”, he adopts the [[positivist]]-[[empiricist]] idea (shared by Engels) that contradiction is present in matter itself (and thus, also in the ideas of the brain). Matter always develops through a dialectical contradiction:
{{quote|"The interdependence of the contradictory aspects present in all things and the struggle between these aspects determine the life of things and push their development forward. There is nothing that does not contain contradiction; without contradiction nothing would exist".<ref>Mao Tse Tung, "On contradiction", Selected Readings from the Works of Mao Tse-Tung, Foreign Language Press, Peking, 1967, p. 75, or http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/volume-1/mswv1_17.htm.</ref>}}
Furthermore, each contradiction (including [[class struggle]], the contradiction holding between relations of production and the concrete development of forces of production) expresses itself in a series of other contradictions, some dominant, others not.
{{quote|"There are many contradictions in the process of development of a complex thing, and one of them is necessarily the principal contradiction whose existence and development determine or influence the existence and development of the other contradictions".<ref>Mao Tse-Tung, "On contradiction", Selected Readings from the Works of Mao Tse-Tung, op. cit., p. 89, or http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/volume-1/mswv1_17.htm.</ref>}}
Thus, the principal contradiction should be tackled with priority when trying to make the basic contradiction "solidify". Mao elaborates further on this theme in the essay “On practice. On the relation between knowledge and practice, between knowing and doing”. Here, “Practice” connects "contradiction" with "class struggle" in the following way: Inside a mode of production, there are three realms where practice functions: economic production, scientific experimentation (which also takes place in economic production and should not be radically disconnected from the former) and finally, class struggle. These may be considered the proper objects of economy, scientific knowledge, and politics.<ref>Cfr. Mao Tse-Tung, "On practice. On the relation between knowledge and practice, between knowing and doing", Selected Readings from the Works of Mao Tse-Tung, op.cit., p. 55: "Man's social practice is not confined to activity in production, but takes many forms—class struggle, political life, scientific and artistic pursuits; in short, as a social being, man participates in all spheres of the practical life of society. Thus man, in varying degrees, comes to know the different relations between man and man, not only through his material life but also though his political and cultural life (both of which are intimately bound up with material life)", or http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/volume-1/mswv1_16.htm.</ref> These three spheres deal with matter in its various forms, socially mediated. As a result, they are the only realms where knowledge may arise (since truth and knowledge only make sense in relation to matter, according to Marxist epistemology). Mao emphasizes—like Marx in trying to confront the "bourgeoisie idealism" of his time—that knowledge must be based on [[empirical evidence]]. Knowledge results from hypotheses verified in the contrast with a real object; this real object, despite being mediated by the subject’s theoretical frame, retains its materiality and will offer resistance to those ideas that do not conform to its truth. Thus, in each of these realms (economic, scientific and political practice), contradictions (principle and secondary) must be identified, explored and put to function to achieve the communist goal. This involves the need to know, "scientifically", how the masses produce (how they live, think, and work), to obtain knowledge of how class struggle (the main contradiction that articulates a mode of production, in its various realms) expresses itself.
===People's War===
Maoism's political orientation emphasizes the "revolutionary struggle of the vast majority of people against the exploiting classes and their state structures", which Mao termed a "[[People's War]]". Usually involving peasants, its military strategies have involved [[guerrilla war]] tactics focused on surrounding the cities from the countryside, with a heavy emphasis on political transformation through mass involvement of the lower classes of society.
===Agrarian socialism===
Maoism departs from conventional European-inspired Marxism in that its focus is on the agrarian countryside, rather than the industrial urban forces. This is known as [[Agrarian socialism]]. Notably, Maoist parties in Peru, Nepal and Philippines have adopted equal stresses on urban and rural areas, depending on the country's focus of economic activity. Maoism broke with the [[state capitalist]] framework of the [[Soviet Union]] under [[Nikita Khrushchev]] and dismisses it as modern [[Marxist revisionism|revisionism]], a traditional pejorative term among communists referring to those who fight for capitalism in the name of socialism.
===New Democratic Revolution ===
The theory of the [[New Democracy]] was known to the Chinese revolutionaries from the late 40’s. This thesis held that for the majority of the peoples of the planet, the long road to [[socialism]] could only be opened by a ‘national, popular, democratic, anti-feudal and anti-imperialist revolution [the language of the day], run by the communists.'<ref>{{Cite news
| last = Amin
| first = Samir
| title = The Countries of the South Must Take Their Own Independent Initiatives
| newspaper =
| publisher = The Third World Forum
| date = October 2009
| url = http://www.forumtiersmonde.net/fren/index.php/activitesactions/249-the-countries-of-the-south-must-take-their-own-independent-initiatives
| accessdate = 2011-02-22}}
</ref>
And in the context of New Democratic revolution, the rationality of such economic policies as to destroy feudalism on the basis of land to the tiller, to confiscate all foreign and domestic economic establishments with a monopolistic character and to limit, control and guide private capital that do not control public life, have been proved in practice. <ref>{{Cite news
| last = Dahal
| first = Pushpa Kamal(Prachanda)
| title = On Maoism
| newspaper =PROBLEMS & PROSPECTS OF REVOLUTION IN NEPAL
| publisher = Published by (Printed Version): Janadisha Publications, Nepal, 2004
| date =
| url = http://web.archive.org/web/20041021024225/www.insof.org/collected/p_onmaoism.html
| accessdate = 2011-02-22}}
</ref>
===Criticisms of Stalin===
Maoism is theory and practice that claims to be an advancement of Marxism, developed as a critique of the [[Soviet Union]].<ref name="emg"/> While Mao Zedong (1893-1976) valued Stalin as a “great Marxist-Leninist”, he explained Stalin committed some crucial errors:
#Stalin did not understand [[dialectics]] and ended up in [[metaphysics]]. He hence sometimes did not understand the demands of [[the masses]]. He did not distinguish between the different kinds of contradictions.
#During the 1930s, the regime of Stalin sentenced many innocents to death.
#Stalin did not conduct [[democratic centralism]] within the party well enough.
#Stalin did not handle the connections with foreign Communist parties well enough, especially his handling of the [[Nanchang Uprising|1927 events in China]].<ref name="emg"/>
The result of these errors, according to Maoism, was that the Soviet Union was governed by a bureaucratic [[nomenclatura]] that later was to conduct a “silent counterrevolution” turning the Soviet Union into a [[Social-imperialism|Social-imperialist]] country, not crucially different from the United States.<ref name="emg"/>
==Post-revolution==
In its post-revolutionary period, Mao Zedong's thought is defined in the CPC's Constitution as "[[Marxism-Leninism]] applied in a Chinese context", synthesized by Mao Zedong and China's "[[Generations of Chinese leadership|first-generation leaders]]". It asserts that [[class struggle]] continues even if the [[proletariat]] has already overthrown the [[bourgeoisie]], and there are capitalist restorationist elements within the Communist Party itself. Maoism provided the CPC's first comprehensive theoretical guideline with regards to how to continue socialist revolution, the creation of a socialist society, socialist military construction, and highlights various contradictions in society to be addressed by what is termed "socialist construction". While it continues to be lauded to be the major force that defeated "imperialism and feudalism" and created a "New China" by the Communist Party of China, the ideology survives only in name on the Communist Party's Constitution; [[Deng Xiaoping]] abolished most Maoist practices in 1978, advancing a guiding ideology called "[[Socialism with Chinese characteristics]].<ref>[http://news.xinhuanet.com/ziliao/2002-11/18/content_633225_1.htm Xinhua: Constitution of the Communist Party of China]</ref>
== Maoism in China ==
{{Context|date=March 2009}}
{{Politics of the People's Republic of China}}
Since the death of Mao Zedong in 1976, and the capitalist reforms of [[Deng Xiaoping]] starting in 1978, the role of Mao's ideology within the People's Republic of China (PRC) has radically changed.<ref>[http://journalism.berkeley.edu/faculty/schell/schelldeng.html UC Berkeley Journalism - Faculty - Deng's Revolution<!--Bot-generated title-->]</ref> Although Mao Zedong Thought nominally remains the state ideology, Deng's admonition to [[seek truth from facts]] means that state policies are judged on their practical consequences; the role of ideology in determining policy, in many areas, has thus been considerably reduced. Deng also separated Mao from Maoism, making it clear that Mao was fallible and hence that the truth of Maoism comes from observing social consequences rather than by using Mao's quotations as [[Holy Writ|holy writ]], as was done in Mao's lifetime.{{Citation needed|date=April 2010}}
In addition, the party constitution has been rewritten to give the capitalist ideas of Deng Xiaoping prominence over those of Mao. One consequence of this is that groups outside China which describe themselves as Maoist generally regard China as having repudiated Maoism and restored [[capitalism]], and there is a wide perception both in and out of China that China has abandoned Maoism. However, while it is now permissible to question particular actions of Mao and to talk about excesses taken in the name of Maoism, there is a prohibition in China on either publicly questioning the validity of Maoism or questioning whether the current actions of the CPC are "Maoist."
Although Mao Zedong Thought is still listed as one of the [[four cardinal principles]] of the People's Republic of China, its historical role has been re-assessed. The Communist Party now says that Maoism was necessary to break China free from its feudal past, but that the actions of Mao are seen to have led to excesses during the [[Cultural Revolution]].{{Citation needed|date=April 2010}}
The official view is that China has now reached an economic and political stage, known as the [[Socialism with Chinese characteristics|primary stage of socialism]], in which China faces new and different problems completely unforeseen by Mao, and as such the solutions that Mao advocated are no longer relevant to China's current conditions. The official proclamation of the new CPC stand came in June 1981, when the Sixth Plenum of the Eleventh National Party Congress Central Committee took place. The 35,000-word "Resolution on Certain Questions in the History of Our Party Since the Founding of the People's Republic of China" reads:
[[Image:LonggangZhen-NanyangShidi-0026.jpg|thumb|"Mao Zedong is the Chinese people's savior!", an old slogan painted on the brick wall of a [[Chinese Buddhist]] [[Temple]]]]
"Chief responsibility for the grave 'Left' error of the 'cultural revolution,' an error comprehensive in magnitude and protracted in duration, does indeed lie with Comrade Mao Zedong . . . . [and] far from making a correct analysis of many problems, he confused right and wrong and the people with the enemy. . . . Herein lies his tragedy."<ref>http://www.country-studies.com/china/the-four-modernizations,-1979-82.html</ref>
Both Maoist critics{{Who|date=April 2010}} outside China and most Western commentators{{Who|date=April 2010}} see this re-working of the definition of Maoism as providing an ideological justification for what they see as the restoration of the essentials of capitalism in China by Deng and his successors.
Mao himself is officially regarded by the CPC as a "great revolutionary leader" for his role in fighting the Japanese and creating the People's Republic of China, but Maoism as implemented between 1959 and 1976 is regarded by today's CPC as an economic and political disaster. In Deng's day, support of radical Maoism was regarded as a form of "left deviationism" and being based on a [[cult of personality]], although these 'errors' are officially attributed to the [[Gang of Four (China)|Gang of Four]] rather than to Mao himself.{{Citation needed|date=April 2010}} Thousands of Maoists were arrested in the Hua Guofeng period after 1976, with prominent Maoists sentenced to death.{{Citation needed|date=April 2010}}
== Maoism outside China ==
From 1962 onwards, the challenge to the Soviet [[hegemony]] in the [[World Communist Movement]] made by the CPC resulted in various divisions in communist parties around the world. At an early stage, the [[Albanian Party of Labour]] sided with the CPC. So did many of the [[mainstream]] (non-splinter group) communist parties in South-East Asia, like the [[Burmese Communist Party]], [[Communist Party of Thailand]], and [[Communist Party of Indonesia]]. Some Asian parties, like the [[Workers Party of Vietnam]] and the [[Workers Party of Korea]] attempted to take a middle-ground position.
The Khmer Rouge of Cambodia is said to have been a replica of the Maoist regime. The Communist Party of Kampuchea (Cambodia), better known as the "[[Khmer Rouge]]", identified strongly with Maoism, and is generally labeled a "Maoist" movement today.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8373556.stm | work=BBC News | title=Khmer Rouge Duch trial nears end | date=2009-11-23 | accessdate=2010-05-12}}</ref><ref>http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/SEAsia/Story/STIStory_459313.html</ref> Maoists, however, are quick to point out that the CPK strongly deviated from Marxist doctrine, and that the few references to Maoist China in CPK propaganda were critical of the Chinese.<ref>http://www.aworldtowin.org/back_issues/1999-25/PolPot_eng25.htm</ref>
In Africa, [[Siad Barre|Siad Barre's]] regime in [[Somalia]] is often cited as being pro-Maoist, as it sided with the [[People's Republic of China]] during the [[Sino-Soviet split]] and, as such, China provided support to the regime during [[Ogaden War|its war]] with the pro-Soviet nations of [[Derg|Ethiopia]], [[Cuba]] and [[South Yemen]].
In the west and south, a plethora of parties and organizations were formed that upheld links to the CPC. Often they took names such as ''Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist)'' or ''Revolutionary Communist Party'' to distinguish themselves from the traditional pro-Soviet communist parties. The pro-CPC movements were, in many cases, based among the wave of student radicalism that engulfed the world in the 1960s and 1970s.
The [[Communist Party of India (Maoist)]] is a [[Maoist]] [[political party]] in [[India]] which aims to overthrow the government of India.<ref>{{Cite news
| last = Ridge
| first = Mian
| title = Maoists' hijacking of Indian train reveals new audacity
| newspaper = The Christian Science Monitor
| publisher = The Christian Science Monitor
| date = 2009-10-29
| url = http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Maoists-looking-at-armed-overthrow-of-state-by-2050/articleshow/5648742.cms
| accessdate = 2009-12-14}}
</ref> It was founded on September 21, 2004, through the merger of the [[Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) People's War]] and the [[Maoist Communist Centre|Maoist Communist Centre of India]] (MCC). The merger was announced to the public on October 14 the same year. In the merger a provisional central committee was constituted, with the erstwhile People's War Group leader [[Muppala Lakshmana Rao]] alias Ganapathi as General Secretary. It is currently proscribed as a [[terrorist]] organization by the Indian government for organizing mass killings in furtherance of their ideology.
Only one [[Western world|Western]] classic communist party sided with CPC, the [[Communist Party of New Zealand]]. Under the leadership of CPC and Mao Zedong, a parallel international communist movement emerged to rival that of the [[Soviets]], although it was never as formalized and homogeneous as the pro-Soviet tendency.
In the United States, the [[Black Panther Party]], especially [[Huey Newton]], was profoundly influenced by Maoist thought.
After the death of Mao in 1976 and the resulting power-struggles in China that followed, the international Maoist movement was divided into three camps. One group, composed of various ideologically nonaligned groups, gave weak support to the new Chinese leadership under Deng Xiaoping. Another camp denounced the new leadership as traitors to the cause of Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought. The third camp sided with the Albanians in denouncing the [[Three Worlds Theory]] of the CPC (see [[Sino-Albanian Split]].)
[[Che Guevara]], though initially praising the [[Soviet Union]] prior to, during and shortly after the [[Cuban Revolution]], later came out in support of Maoism, and advocated the adoption of the ideology throughout [[Latin America]]. The pro-Albanian camp would start to function as an international group as well,<ref>''ROMA OF THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA'' Author: Judith Latham DOI: 10.1080/009059999109037. Published in: journal Nationalities Papers, Volume 27, Issue 2 June 1999 , pages 205 - 226</ref> led by [[Enver Hoxha]] and the [[Albanian Party of Labour|APL]], and was also able to amalgamate many of the communist groups in Latin America, including the [[Communist Party of Brazil]] and [[Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Ecuador|Marxist-Leninist Communist Party]] in [[Ecuador]]. Later Latin American Communists such as [[Peru|Peru's]] [[Shining Path]] also embraced the tenets of Maoism.
The new Chinese leadership showed little interest in the various foreign groups supporting Mao's China. Many of the foreign parties that were [[fraternal party|fraternal parties]] aligned with the Chinese government before 1975 either disbanded, abandoned the new Chinese government entirely, or even renounced [[Marxism-Leninism]] and developed into non-communist, [[social democratic]] parties. What is today called the "international Maoist movement" evolved out of the second camp{{ndash}} the parties that opposed Deng and claimed to uphold the legacy of Mao.
== Maoist organizations ==
Today, there is no consensus on who does and who does not represent Maoism. Various efforts have sought to regroup the international communist movement under Maoism since the time of Mao's death in 1976.
One notable organization was the [[Revolutionary Internationalist Movement]] (RIM). RIM was founded in 1984 and included such notable organizations as the [[Shining Path|Communist Party of Peru]] (PCP), also known as "Sendero Luminoso" or "Shining Path," the then [[Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)]], now known as the [[Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)]] UCPN(M), and the [[Revolutionary Communist Party USA]] (RCP(USA)). Today, the RIM appears to be defunct or near defunct. The magazine associated with the RIM, A World To Win, has not published an issue since 2006, though A World To Win News Service still publishes regularly on the internet.<ref>http://www.aworldtowin.org/wordpress/</ref> In addition, many of the one-time RIM organizations have become increasingly critical of each other. This has resulted in many public splits. For example, recently the RCP USA has criticized the UCPN(M) as revisionist after the UCPN(M) abandoned its people's war for the parliamentary road. In addition, Red Sun, a web page that claims to be affiliated with some faction the Communist Party of Peru, has criticized both the UCPN(M) and RCP USA. Another movement that has criticized the UCPN(M) is the Communist Party of India (Maoist) -- although they were never formally a RIM member, the CPI(Maoist) was formed out of three organizations, some of which were RIM members, at conferences organized by RIM.<ref>http://revcom.us/a/1200/awtwindia.htm</ref><ref>http://www.massline.info/India/Indian_Groups.htm#CPI%28Maoist%29</ref>
Another effort at regrouping the international communist movement is the [[International Conference of Marxist-Leninist Parties and Organizations]] (ICMLPO). Two notable parties that participate in the ICMLPO are the [[Marxist Leninist Party of Germany]] (MLPD) and the [[Communist Party of the Philippines]] (CPP). The ICMLPO seeks to unity around Marxism-Leninism, not Maoism. However, some of the parties and organizations within the ICMLPO identify as Mao Zedong Thought or Maoist.
Other trends have sought to lead international Maoism. The [[Maoist Internationalist Movement]] (MIM) was founded in 1983 and largely dissolved by 2009. Although smaller than the ICMLPO and RIM, MIM's main influence was in intellectual and literary circles. Even though MIM dissolved organizationally, MIM-influenced efforts continue to exist. The Maoist-Third Worldist movement and the Leading Light Communist Organization, which was founded between 2007 and 2009, continues its efforts to spread its distinct form of Maoism through its print journal and online webpage Monkey Smashes Heaven. The Maoist-Third Worldist movement holds that there is no first world proletariat, that the first world "working class" is a bought-off, bourgeoisified labor aristocracy that aligns with imperialism against the masses of the third world, and claims to have developed Marxism to a new, fourth stage. Monkey Smashes Heaven takes a positive view of Lin Biao, a view not shared by others claiming to be Maoist. The Maoist-Third Worldist movement has published materials in English, Polish, Chinese, Tagalog, Czech, Greek, Macedonian, French, and Spanish.
The [[Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)]], a national communist party with a revolutionary background, is a follower of Maoism, although it is believed that the party has developed its own ideology, [[Prachanda Path]], which was developed taking Nepal's political, sociological and geographical constraints into consideration. Still, this party is believed to have taken Maoism as its doctrine as its name suggests.
In the USA the [[Kasama Project]] (KP), was initiated by former RCP USA members critical of what they viewed as the dogmatism and cult of personality of RCP USA. KP describes itself as seeking to radically re-imagine contemporary revolutionary politics. It is deeply influenced by Maoist thought, in particular as developed by the RCP USA, but claims members who arrive from other traditions, such as anarchism. KP has published articles in English, [[Persian language|Persian]], Spanish, and other languages.
== Military strategy ==
His writings include ''[[On Guerrilla Warfare]]'', where he lays out his ideas on [[guerrilla warfare]].<ref>[http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/works/1937/guerrilla-warfare/ On Guerrilla Warfare<!--Bot-generated title-->]</ref>
As with his economic and political ideas, Maoist military credo seems to have a more relevance at the start of the 21st century outside of the [[People's Republic of China]] than within it. There is a consensus both within and outside the PRC that the military context that the PRC faces in the early 21st century are very different from the one faced by China in the 1930s. As a result, within the inner circle of the [[People's Liberation Army]] there has been extensive debate over whether and how to relate Mao's military doctrines to 21st-century military ideas, especially the idea of a [[revolution in military affairs]].
== Critique and interpretations ==
Maoism has fallen out of favour within the Communist Party of China, beginning with Deng Xiaoping's reforms in 1978. Deng believed that Maoism showed the dangers of "ultra-leftism", manifested in the harm perpetrated by the various mass movements that characterized the Maoist era. In Chinese Communism, the term "left" can be taken as a euphemism for Maoist policies. However, Deng stated that the revolutionary side of Maoism should be considered separate from the governance side, leading to his famous epithet that Mao was "70% good, 30% bad". China scholars generally agree that Deng's interpretation of Maoism preserves the legitimacy of Communist rule in China but at the same time criticizes Mao's brand of economic and political governance.
Critic Graham Young claims that Maoists see [[Joseph Stalin]] as the last true socialist leader of the Soviet Union, but allows that the Maoist assessments of Stalin vary between the extremely positive and the more ambivalent.<ref>Graham Young, ''On Socialist Development and the Two Roads'', The Australian Journal of Chinese Affairs, No. 8 (Jul., 1982), pp. 75-84, doi:10.2307/2158927</ref> Some political philosophers, such as Martin Cohen, have seen in Maoism an attempt to combine [[Confucianism]] and [[Socialism]] - what one such called 'a third way between communism and capitalism'.<ref>Political Philosophy from Plato to Mao, by Martin Cohen, page 206, published 2001 by Pluto Press, London and Sterling VA ISBN 0745316034</ref>
== See also ==
* ''[[Quotations from Chairman Mao]]''
* [[History of the People's Republic of China]]
* [[Cult of Personality]]
* [[New Democracy]]
* [[Deng Xiaoping Theory]]
* [[Three Represents]]
* [[Chinese New Left]]
* [[Guevarism]]
* [[Communist Party of India (Maoist)]]
* [[Naxalite]]
* [[Naxalite-Maoist insurgency]]
cheese fuck balls
== References ==
{{Reflist|2}}
== External links ==
=== General ===
<div class="references-small">
*[http://www.marx2mao.com/Mao/Index.html Marx2Mao.org] Mao Internet Library
*[http://marxists.org/glossary/terms/m/a.htm#maoism The Encyclopedia of Marxism] Mao Zedong Thought.
*[http://www.marxists.org/glossary/people/m/a.htm#mao-tse-tung The Encyclopedia of Marxism] Mao's life.
*[http://www.monthlyreview.org/0105commentary.htm ''Monthly Review'' January 2005] Text of the leaflets distributed by the Zhengzhou Four.
*[http://revmedia.net World Revolution Media] Maoist revolutionary film, music, and art archive
* Batchelor, J. [http://cliojournal.wikispaces.com/Maoism+and+Classical+Marxism Maoism and Classical Marxism], Clio History Journal, 2009.
</div>
=== Selected organizations ===
<div class="references-small">
*[http://pcpargentina.es.tl Communist Party of Argentina People]
*[http://slmarxist.yolasite.com Maoist Group of Sri Lanka.]
*[http://llco.org Leading Light Communist Organization -- Internationalist Maoist-Third Worldist Organization]
*[http://www.kasamaproject.org The Kasama Project]
*[http://english.cpc.people.com.cn/ Chinese Communist Party]
*[http://www.freedomroad.org/ Freedom Road Socialist Organization]
*[http://www.aworldtowin.org Revolutionary Internationalist Movement]
Committee of Marxist-Leninist-Maoist parties from around the world
*[http://revcom.us/ Revolutionary Communist Party, USA] ''Revolution'' newspaper online
*[http://www.ucpnm.org/english/index.php www.ucpnm.org] Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)
*[http://www.sarbedaran.org www.sarbedaran.org] Communist Party of Iran (MLM) *in [[Persian language|Persian]]*
*[http://www.philippinerevolution.net/ Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP)]
*[http://www.redsun.org/ Communist Party of Peru Shining Path ]
*[http://www.risparty.org/ Revolutionary Internationalist Socialist Party, USA (RISP) ]
*[http://www.ip.org.tr/ Workers' Party (Turkey)]
*[http://www.pcr-rcpcanada.org/ Revolutionary Communist Party of Canada (PCR-RCP)]
*[http://www.pctpmrpp.org Communist Party of the Portuguese Workers] PCTP/MRPP (Portugal)
*[http://trzeciswiat.wordpress.com Third World] Polish Journal of Maoism-Third Worldism
</div>
===Revolutions===
<div class="references-small">
* [http://news.google.com/news?q=Maoists&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off&sa=N&tab=wn Search for Maoists] on [[Google News]]
</div>
{{Maoism}}
{{BlackPanther}}
[[Category:Maoism]]
[[Category:Political philosophy by politician]]
[[Category:Chinese philosophy]]
[[ar:ماوية]]
[[ast:Maoísmu]]
[[az:Maoizm]]
[[br:Maoouriezh]]
[[bg:Маоизъм]]
[[ca:Maoisme]]
[[cs:Maoismus]]
[[cy:Maoaeth]]
[[da:Maoisme]]
[[de:Maoismus]]
[[el:Μαοϊσμός]]
[[es:Maoísmo]]
[[eo:Maoismo]]
[[eu:Maoismo]]
[[fa:مائوئیسم]]
[[fr:Maoïsme]]
[[gl:Maoísmo]]
[[ko:마오쩌둥주의]]
[[id:Maoisme]]
[[is:Maóismi]]
[[it:Maoismo]]
[[he:מאואיזם]]
[[lt:Maoizmas]]
[[hu:Maoizmus]]
[[ms:Maoisme]]
[[nl:Maoïsme]]
[[ne:माओवाद]]
[[ja:毛沢東思想]]
[[no:Maoisme]]
[[nn:Maoisme]]
[[pl:Maoizm]]
[[pt:Maoísmo]]
[[ro:Maoism]]
[[ru:Маоизм]]
[[scn:Maoismu]]
[[simple:Maoism]]
[[sk:Maoizmus]]
[[sl:Maoizem]]
[[sr:Маоизам]]
[[fi:Maolaisuus]]
[[sv:Maoism]]
[[tl:Maoismo]]
[[tr:Maoculuk]]
[[uk:Маоїзм]]
[[zh:毛泽东思想]]' |
Whether or not the change was made through a Tor exit node (tor_exit_node ) | 0 |
Unix timestamp of change (timestamp ) | 1303583659 |