Mao's Dialectical Materialism: Possibilities for the Future

In this paper I present Mao's historical view based on dialectical materialism, and I propose that this socialist historiography can help the current PRC regime to reflect on its relationship to its past and its future. As we know, the contradictions of capitalism and communism lie not only in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inRethinking Marxism Vol. 28; no. 1; pp. 108 - 123
Main Author Pang, Laikwan
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Abingdon Routledge 02.01.2016
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
Capitalism
China
Communism
Dialectical Materialism
Dialectics
Dictators
Historiography
History
Intellectuals
Mao Zedong
Maoism
Materialism
Poetry
Politics
Socialism
Walter Benjamin
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Summary:In this paper I present Mao's historical view based on dialectical materialism, and I propose that this socialist historiography can help the current PRC regime to reflect on its relationship to its past and its future. As we know, the contradictions of capitalism and communism lie not only in the economic and political realms but also in the completely different senses of time they offer. In the case of Maoism, it is the unfixed future that agitates people to revolutionary action. I will explore what dialectics means to Maoism by exploring both the original texts of Mao and the exegesis of various Maoist scholars, and I will also study poems written by Mao to explore his romantic view of history.
ISSN:0893-5696
1475-8059
DOI:10.1080/08935696.2015.1123009