Anti-Maoism

Front cover of Imperialism and the Revolution, by Enver Hoxha, a major anti-Maoist work.

Anti-Maoism encompasses nominally communist movements which seek to undermine and denigrate Marxism–Leninism–Maoism, Mao Zedong Thought, and Mao Zedong himself.

Anti-Maoists frequently engage in dogmato-revisionism, anti-Chinese chauvinism, and generally fallacious arguments to attack Maoism. Most "communists" who are anti-Maoists belong to Hoxhaism, Dengism, Trotskyism, and other revisionist stances. These revisionists are threatened by Maoism due to it being the most advanced stage in Marxist thought, giving it the capacity to expose the shortcomings in their own tendencies.

The ideological superiority of Maoism is shown through its role as the guiding ideology for many communist movements around the world (such as Peru, the Philippines, and India); Hoxhaism and other tendencies, by contrast, has very few adherents that are actively waging revolution.

Stances

Maoism being class collaborationist

Many communists, especially Hoxhaists, accuse Maoism of being "class collaborationist" because of the concept of "New Democracy", which included an alliance with the national bourgeoisie. However, Hoxha himself when making this criticism, was not taking China's material conditions into account. Only 10% of modern industry in China consisted of the national economy, while the other 90% consisted of handicrafts and agriculture. This situation required the participation of the national bourgeoisie. Although New Democracy was an alliance of various classes, power was firmly in the hands of the proletariat, who guided socialist construction in China. The accusation of class collaboration also overlooks the fact that the national bourgeoisie in China was distinct from the comprador bourgeoisie, who were directly tied to foreign imperialist interests. The national bourgeoisie, while capitalist, had a contradictory nature; they were exploited by imperialism and feudalism, and thus had a potential, albeit limited, revolutionary role to play in the initial stages.

Also, the multi-class alliance was only in effect during the New Democratic stage of the revolution. After the country-wide seizure of power, the New Democratic revolution was over and the socialist revolution began.

"The idea of building communist society exclusively with the hands of the Communists is childish, absolutely childish. We Communists are but a drop in the ocean, a drop in the ocean of the people." —V.I. Lenin, Political Report of the Central Committee of the R.C.P.(B.) at the Eleventh Congress of the R.C.P.(B.)

"The people's democratic dictatorship needs the leadership of the working class. For it is only the working class that is most farsighted, most selfless and most thoroughly revolutionary. The entire history of revolution proves that without the leadership of the working class, revolution fails and that with the leadership of the working class, revolution triumphs. In the epoch of imperialism, in no country can any other class lead any genuine revolution to victory. This is clearly proved by the fact that the many revolutions led by China's petty bourgeoisie and national bourgeoisie all failed." —Mao Zedong, On the People's Democratic Dictatorship

Maoism as a nationalist deviation

Maoism is criticized by many Hoxhaists for being a "nationalist deviation". While nationalists were included as part of the aforementioned New Democracy, the working class maintained the leading role in the revolution.

Maoism being dogmatic

Hoxhaists criticize Mao and Maoists for being too "dogmatic", which is ironic considering that Hoxha himself was a dogmatist. He mechanically applied what the Soviet Union was doing in Albania, without considering Albania's specific material conditions, showing that Hoxha lacked a thorough understanding of materialism. Maoists, on the contrary, seek to creatively apply Marxism–Leninism–Maoism to account for local particularities.

Maoism being metaphysical

Hoxha claimed that Mao denied core aspects of dialectical materialism. One particular claim relates to his supposed rejection of the negation of the negation, with Hoxha asserting that Mao instead maintained a metaphysical worldview inspired by Eastern religion which saw human history in a circular fashion. This claim by Hoxha is unsubstantiated.

Maoism being Third Worldist

Critics of Maoism frequently conflate Marxism–Leninism–Maoism with Maoism–Third Worldism, despite these tendencies being mutually conflicting. Although Maoists may hold disagreements over the extent of revolutionary potential in the First World, most maintain that revolution is in fact possible.

Further reading

• Enver Hoxha Refuted (1981), by N. Sanmugathasan

See also

• Anti-Stalinism
• Anti-Leninism