Mass line
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The mass line is a theoretical and political theory in Marxism–Leninism–Maoism which was initially developed by Mao Zedong and the Communist Party of China more broadly. The mass line is premised on the party communicating with the masses, understanding their grievances and desires, and adjusting party practice accordingly. Mao summarized the mass line as being "from the masses, to the masses".[1]
Implementation
The mass line is a reiterative method, applied over and over again, which step by step advances the interests of the masses, and in particular their central interest within bourgeois society, namely, advancing towards socialist revolution. Each iteration may be viewed as a three step process: 1) gathering the diverse ideas of the masses; 2) processing or concentrating these ideas from the perspective of revolutionary Marxism, in light of the long-term, ultimate interests of the masses, and in light of a scientific analysis of the objective situation; and 3) returning these concentrated ideas to the masses in the form of a political line which will actually advance the mass struggle toward social revolution.[2]
References
- ↑ “Decision of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Concerning the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution”
“Party committees at all levels must abide by the directions given by Chairman Mao over the years, namely that they should thoroughly apply the mass line of ‘from the masses and to the masses’ and that they should be pupils before they become teachers. They should try to avoid being one-sided or narrow. They should foster materialist dialectics and oppose metaphysics and scholasticism.”
- ↑ "The Mass Line and the American Revolutionary Movement". Scott Harrison