We present to you this audio recording of a recently hosted and very engaging talk by Elliot Liu of Unity and Struggle on his recently published Maoism and the Chinese Revolution: A Critical Introduction published jointly by anarchist publishers PM Press and Thought Crime Ink based in Canada.

The Chinese Revolution changed the face of the twentieth century, and the politics that issued from it—often referred to as “Maoism”—resonated with colonized and oppressed people from the 1970s down to the anticapitalist movements of today. But how did these politics first emerge? And what do they offer activists today, who seek to transform capitalist society at its very foundations?

In this talk, author Elliott Liu gives a talk on his book, Maoism and the Chinese Revolution: A Critical Introduction. Elliott offers a brief overview of the course of the Chinese revolution and how it shaped what became Maoism followed by a discussion of how Maoist politics have been interpreted and applied locally and in the U.S.

About the Book

Maoism and the Chinese Revolution offers the novice reader a sweeping overview of five decades of Maoist revolutionary history. It covers the early years of the Chinese Communist Party, through decades of guerrilla warfare and rapid industrialization, to the massive upheavals of the Cultural Revolution. It traces the development of Mao Zedong’s military and political strategy, philosophy, and statecraft amid the growing contradictions of the Chinese revolutionary project. All the while, it maintains a perspective sympathetic to the everyday workers and peasants who lived under the party regime, and who in some moments stood poised to make the revolution anew.

If you found this interesting you might also enjoy our “Resources on Asian Anarchism” pages with dozens of links to further readings.