Critical Perspectives on Mao Zedong's Thought

Dramatic developments in the international communist world over the last decade make a reevaluation of Mao's thought from a critical left perspective an urgent task. Critical Perspectives on Mao Zedong's Thought addresses this task, challenging the dominance of conservative perspectives in China studies while presenting alternative constructions which draw on concepts and modes of discourse characteristic of left scholarship. Here, distinguished contributors from a variety of disciplines offer a critical reevaluation of Mao Zedong's thought in light of post-Mao developments in Marxism in general, and Chinese Marxism in particular. Conceptually, the essays share common ground in viewing Mao's Marxism as a third world revolutionary Marxism, and fall broadly into two areas: the relationship of Mao Zedong's thought to the Marxist tradition, and the place of Mao Zedong's thought within a Third World revolutionary discourse. At its broadest, the goal of this volume is to examine the relationship between Marxism as a product of the European historical experience, and its unfolding globablly with the globalization of capitalism. The book, which has no parallel in either the themes addressed or the range of specialists it draws upon, should be of interest to students of China, of Marxism, and of Third World revolutionary movements. Given China's rapid economic development and its emergence as the central figure on the world's economic stage, this book will also be of interest to the educated layperson.