Comments on: A Chinese Alternative? Interpreting the Chinese New Left Politically

By: (Cina) “NUOVA SINISTRA” E ALTERNATIVA | Guerre & Pace

(Cina) “NUOVA SINISTRA” E ALTERNATIVA | Guerre & Pace — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 14:43:26 +0000

[...] Da “Insurgent Notes” n.1; http://insurgentnotes.com/2010/06/chinese-new-left/ . Trad. e adatt. di Piero [...]

By: Notes Towards a Critique of Maoism by Loren Goldner | Advance the Struggle

Notes Towards a Critique of Maoism by Loren Goldner | Advance the Struggle — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 22:15:40 +0000

[...] [...]

By: China: que alternativas? A Nova Esquerda chinesa : Passa Palavra

China: que alternativas? A Nova Esquerda chinesa : Passa Palavra — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 09:16:39 +0000

[...] Traduzido para o Passa Palavra por Lucas Morais Fonte original: http://insurgentnotes.com/2010/06/chinese-new-left/ [...]

By: Oleg Gutsulyak

Oleg Gutsulyak — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 23:34:52 +0000

В действительности Коммунистическая партия («Гунчаньдан») по китайски буквально переводиться как “Партия Общего Дела” (правда, возможен и вариант «партия общей собственности»), прямо отсылая к даоской традиции «Великого Делания» (алхимии ) — «Несколько лет упорного труда – десять тысяч лет счастья».
Т.е. вначале коммунистическая идея предстала в Китае неким «новым неодаосистсим учением», как бы развивая линию «неодаосизма» («сюань сюэ»), признававшего участие каждого в общественно-государственной жизни (ранее только китайский «император обращался к небу с сердечной молитвой, в результате чего устанавливалась прямая связь и Небо ниспосылало дэ» — частичку Дао, которая полагалась императору, чтобы править страной), добавляя теперь еще и социальную составляющую. В программных документах КПК есть такое понятие как «строительство духовного коммунизма», что, по существу, рассматривается как эманация Дао-Пути (тотальной этической нормы, лежащей в основе самого каркаса мироздания).
Также существует предание, согласно которому сам Мао Цзэдун говорил якобы о себе, что является «политиком, который лишь внешне — конфуцианец, а внутри — даос» . Такие изречения Мао Цзэдуна, как «не бояться трудностей, не боятся смерти», «себе выбирать трудные дела, другим оставлять легкие» и ряд других сентенций подобного рода заимствованы из даосизма. Например, на второй сессии VIII съезда КПК в мае 1958 г. новой генеральной линией стал лозунг: «Несколько лет упорного труда, потом — вечное блаженство!».

By: Arthur Borges

Arthur Borges — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 15:46:37 +0000

Oops: That was Liu Shaoqi, of course.

By: Arthur Borges

Arthur Borges — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 15:44:39 +0000

On the Cultural Revolution, I argue Mao realized by 1966 that China would have to shift back to a market economy given (1) total breakdown of Sino-Soviet relations (2) presence of 250,000 US troops in South Vietnam (later doubled) plus more assets in South Korea, Guam, Okinawa and the Philippines.

In evidence, Mao shielded Zhou Enlai who in turn shielded Deng Xiaoping from anything much worse than wearing a dunce cap when, for being a master bridge player, he ought to have qualified for the worst. Meanwhile, Liu Qhaoqi, Peng Dahuai and other generals were jailed and left to die. Indeed, those who suffered most from the Cultural Revolution were coincidentally those who suffered most FOR the establishment of the PRC. And they were also those who would have opposed most fiercely any gearshift back into a market economy.

For the gearshift to become possible, Communism itself had to be discredited first and what better way to do it than to hand power and book of rules to a bunch of boy scouts with no life experience? Of course their egos went overboard! They were supposed to!

But of course, it is so much easier to assume Mao was a beastie.

How easy do you think it is for a middle-class farm kid with no special connections to found a movement that successfully fights (1) a civil war, (2) a foreign invader of substance and (3) establishes truly domestic rule over a nation of 400 million people, along with the political and economic independence that entails?

Who else in history compares?

By: Ken Hammond

Ken Hammond — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 16:15:49 +0000

I very much enjoyed your discussion of the New Left in China today. I am working on some related topics, particularly the relationship between New Left thinkers and what some are seeing as an emergent Left Confucianism. The best representative of this is the independent scholar/teacher Jiang Qing, who runs a Confucian academy in Guizhou. Jiang has written quite a bit about the need for a socially/politically engaged Confucianism. He echoes much of Wang Hui’s critique of de-politicization, and advocates a social justice agenda which is strongly inflected by socialism. It is a curious phenomenon, but one which I think may have some real value in the Chinese context.
I think the field of anti-hegemonic theory and practice in China is very complicated, but somewhat encouraging right now. Labor activism, especially the recent strike wave, remains largely isolated from the intellectual sphere of Wang Hui et al, but there may be ways to bridge this which will develop out of practice. In the meantime it is great to see a serious treatment of insurgent thought in China in a Western left journal.
I’d be interested in how you see all this fitting in with Arrighi’s analysis of China’s role in the dialectical development of capitalism. I don’t think Chinese thinkers have addressed Arrighi’s ideas at all adequately yet.
Thanks again, and I look forward to seeing more of our work.