Politics Forum
Maoism is also called Marxism-Leninism-Maoism. Maoists often call themselves Marxist-Leninists, though Mao’s theories differ in several key ways from Marxism-Leninism. Mao Zedong’s theories say that the revolution can be made by rural peasants in colonized countries and by the urban proletariat in alliance with the peasantry within imperialist countries. It is not necessarily the idea of an alliance between workers and peasants that is the defining point of Maoism, since this element has always been a part of Marxism-Leninism, but rather the alliance of classes that would benefit from the revolution, which include the national bourgeoisie. Maoism says that everyone can be part of the party and the revolution regardless of their class background, and tries to get the maximum amount of people possible involved. Because of this, Maoists tend to use the term “masses” a lot instead of simply “working class” or “peasantry.” Within agricultural nations they also use rural guerrilla tactics, which they call a “Protracted Peoples’ War.”
Maoists also uphold the theory of the “Cultural Revolution,” which says that masses of people should be mobilized to spread communism and join party brigades in order to influence the culture from a capitalist or feudal era into a socialist era. The downside of Mao’s methods of doing this is that frequently the masses of people were not totally class conscious, and, as happened during the Cultural Revolution, violence can break out and the party can lose control of the movement. As a result, non-Maoist Marxist-Leninists support a revolution in the realm of culture and art, but one under firm control by the party and not dependant on the spontaneity of the masses.
Maoists usually give Mao credit for concepts he did not invent. For example, Mao stated that a “new bourgeoisie arises within the communist party,” which Maoists give him full credit for. In reality, this theory is interchangeable with Stalin’s “aggravation of class struggle under socialism,” since both state that the class struggle continues under socialism and disappears only when full communism is in place. Another example is the so-called idea of the “mass-line” or going to the masses, seeing what is on their mind and giving it a communist spin. The Maoists say this is unique to them, even though the idea that the party should be in touch with the masses goes all the way back to Marx.
Marxist-Leninists and Maoists generally work together in the same organizations however, since Maoists take mostly correct stances and pay some support to Stalin. Maoism adopts most of the correct stances of Leninism, even though in practice they become negated because of the errors of other additions to Maoism. A more in-depth and contextualized analysis of Maoism in contrast to Marxism-Leninism (such as Enver Hoxha’s “Imperialism and the Revolution”) smashes the myth that Mao’s theories are a natural continuation of Marxism-Leninism.
As a small note, there is also a vein of rather nutty Maoists who call themselves “Third-Worldists,” who believe that all people “First World” are something like an international bourgeoisie and only the “Third World” nations are revolutionary. These people are generally mocked by the movement.
Maoists also uphold the theory of the “Cultural Revolution,” which says that masses of people should be mobilized to spread communism and join party brigades in order to influence the culture from a capitalist or feudal era into a socialist era. The downside of Mao’s methods of doing this is that frequently the masses of people were not totally class conscious, and, as happened during the Cultural Revolution, violence can break out and the party can lose control of the movement. As a result, non-Maoist Marxist-Leninists support a revolution in the realm of culture and art, but one under firm control by the party and not dependant on the spontaneity of the masses.
Maoists usually give Mao credit for concepts he did not invent. For example, Mao stated that a “new bourgeoisie arises within the communist party,” which Maoists give him full credit for. In reality, this theory is interchangeable with Stalin’s “aggravation of class struggle under socialism,” since both state that the class struggle continues under socialism and disappears only when full communism is in place. Another example is the so-called idea of the “mass-line” or going to the masses, seeing what is on their mind and giving it a communist spin. The Maoists say this is unique to them, even though the idea that the party should be in touch with the masses goes all the way back to Marx.
Marxist-Leninists and Maoists generally work together in the same organizations however, since Maoists take mostly correct stances and pay some support to Stalin. Maoism adopts most of the correct stances of Leninism, even though in practice they become negated because of the errors of other additions to Maoism. A more in-depth and contextualized analysis of Maoism in contrast to Marxism-Leninism (such as Enver Hoxha’s “Imperialism and the Revolution”) smashes the myth that Mao’s theories are a natural continuation of Marxism-Leninism.
As a small note, there is also a vein of rather nutty Maoists who call themselves “Third-Worldists,” who believe that all people “First World” are something like an international bourgeoisie and only the “Third World” nations are revolutionary. These people are generally mocked by the movement.
