DeepSummary
This episode is an interview with Joshua Moufawad-Paul discussing Maoism, Marxism, and revolutionary communism. Moufawad-Paul explains how Maoism emerged as a distinct theoretical tendency from Marxism-Leninism in the late 1980s and early 1990s, particularly through the work of the Communist Party of Peru and the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement. He argues that Maoism represents both a continuity and rupture from previous stages of Marxism, developing new universal conceptions while still rooted in the core logic of class struggle.
A significant portion of the interview focuses on Moufawad-Paul's views on Marxism as a revolutionary science, drawing analogies between its development and paradigm shifts in the natural sciences. He argues that Marxism aims to demystify social relations and natural phenomena through a materialist analysis, making it the most radical expression of the Enlightenment tradition. Moufawad-Paul also discusses the relationship between Maoism and anti-revisionism, asserting that there can be no truly anti-revisionist communism that is not Maoist.
The conversation also touches on topics such as the value of postcolonial and anti-colonial theory for Marxists, the role of militancy and direct action, and the potential for future world-historical revolutions to further advance revolutionary science. Throughout, Moufawad-Paul provides insights from his philosophical training and engagement with various leftist tendencies, offering a nuanced defense of the Maoist perspective.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- Maoism emerged in the late 20th century as a distinct theoretical tendency within Marxism, representing both continuity and rupture from previous stages of Marxism-Leninism.
- Maoism aims to develop revolutionary science further by addressing limitations and revisionist tendencies in earlier Marxist thought.
- Moufawad-Paul argues that Marxism should be understood as a revolutionary science focused on demystifying social relations and natural phenomena through a materialist analysis.
- Marxism is presented as the most radical expression of the Enlightenment tradition in its pursuit of fully demystifying the world.
- Maoism is framed as the only truly anti-revisionist form of communism and the highest stage of revolutionary science achieved thus far.
- Postcolonial and anti-colonial theory are recognized as valuable for Marxists to engage with critically, while postmodernism is critiqued for its idealist foundations.
- The potential for future world-historical revolutions to further advance revolutionary science beyond Maoism is acknowledged.
- Direct action, militancy, and engagement with anarchist and non-Marxist radical movements are viewed positively by Moufawad-Paul.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “I see Marxism as the most radical expression of the enlightenment in that... going back to kind of the things I said about science, right? The enlightenment in general, it's where the new sciences arose, right? So it's, it's, its proposition was it wanted to demystify the world, right?“ by Joshua Mufawad Paul
- “I see it as like, if it becomes the accomplishment of the science of class struggle, then rejecting how it is developed to this point is a form of revisionism, right? It's rejecting the actual development of what makes it a science.“ by Joshua Mufawad Paul
- “I think part of Marxism's historical development has been through a struggle between revisionism and anti revisionism. Right? And so this is why you can see, like, the struggle that Luxembourg and Lenin had against the elements of the second International. And then, of course, I think a lot of what Leninism is emerged from that struggle against Kautsky's revisionism and then China's struggle against the Communist Party, the Soviet Union, which led to the Sino-Soviet split, where they put forward the famous statement, long live Marxism Leninism.“ by Joshua Mufawad Paul
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Episode Information
Revolutionary Left Radio
Revolutionary Left Radio
4/14/22
[Originally released Mar 2018]
J. Moufawad-Paul lives in Toronto and works as casualized contract faculty at York University where he received his PhD in philosophy. He blogs regularly at MLM Mayhem and is the author of The Communist Necessity, Continuity and Rupture, and Austerity Apparatus.
Josh joins Brett to discuss Maoism, The Enlightenment, Post-Modernism, the science of Marxism, and much more!
Find JMP on twitter @MLM_Mayhem
But his books here: https://www.leftwingbooks.net/book/content/communist-necessity
and here: http://www.zero-books.net/authors/joshua-r-moufawad-paul
Outro Music: "Market Made Murder" by Sims ft. Toki Wright and Mike Mictlan , off the album "Lights Out Paris"
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